


Eclipse: In the shadow of the sun

by orphan_account



Series: Solangelo's Adventures [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Demigods, F/M, Fanfiction, High School, M/M, not an au, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-01-31 03:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 76,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21439348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: SOLANGELO. HIGH SCHOOL. Those three words should be enoughYou need not read the sequels if you do not enjoy crossovers! Thank you for reading!
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo's Adventures [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545628
Comments: 22
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really hate this story a lot but I won't be editing it cos I have a lot of stuff going on :") I wrote this when I was dumb and stupid and simply, an amateur, so my writing style was the literal definition of cringe. please ignore all future author's notes cos im too lazy to delete them but please dont take any notice of them. 
> 
> also guys, I've turned off comments completely after experimenting with just turning off comments from unregistered users because every time I see a notification that a new comment has been added, I do tend to get very anxious because I know this piece is very flawed and while I am ready to get bashed for it...I didn't delete it for a reason--which is because Idk, maybe someone out there really does appreciate this kind of stuff...so yeah. Sorry for those who wanted to comment nice things or just comment in general, but I want to turn off the comments for my wellbeing. hope y'all understand! thank you so much <3

Nico walked back toward Will grudgingly, unwilling to even step into the infirmary at all. His footsteps were heavy, and Nico didn't know whether it was because of the stay or having to face the camp's sunshine for the whole of the next three days. The dull shade of sky seemed to mock him, along with the putrid smell of blood of the bodies that had sacrificed themselves for the sake of humanity.

Nico's stomach flopped at the thought of it at all; the need for die to save the world from a sadistic old lady who deemed herself 'mother of the Earth' was just sick-minded. The irony of it too; saving Earth from Earth. If it were at all possible, his footsteps slowed further, becoming no more than an automatic movement Nico was even too tired to perform properly.

He crossed his arms across his chest, cupping his elbows and pressing it against his stomach as if to forget the gnawing pain eating away at itself. He hadn't eaten in about ten days now, or at least, nothing more than little bits and pieces here and there. It was never enough to satisfy himself, but he knew that if he ate anything more than that little bit, it wouldn't stay down. Not for long.

It wasn't that he wasn't hungry, he was in fact. But rather, like most cases, his stomach was not used to it, and he rathered to not eat in the first place. After all, he didn't mind dying to starvation, or to anything actually. He didn't find the will to live; each day, for him, was just another twenty-four hours of vulnerability, of torture, absolute torture. Torture he couldn't bring himself to fight against. He was alive only because he wasn't dead.

Even as he felt the bones that carved out the shape of his hands dig into his ribs against the thin fabric of his shirt, the uneven parts of his forearms were just as prominent. He instinctively reached for anything to cover it, but remembered there was none. He was still in that dreadfully colourful makeshift shirt, and he was not the least bit pleased about it, and yet, here he was, walking up to Will Solace, the human embodiment of the Sun, in that shirt.

If Nico guessed correctly, he was probably going to make some really lame joke about it that would just piss him off. He briefly thought about returning to his cabin for a change, but he could feel the gaze of the son of Apollo's eyes following his movements. It seemed almost like Will was trying to burn a hole in his back simply through his gaze.

Nico shuddered then quickly mentally chided himself for it. He was not to feel cold, scared, lost, or helpless. He was not to feel at all. That was what everyone told him, that being a son of Hades meant to be void of emotion, to kill someone in cold blood, because they deserved to die, like Bryce Lawrence.

He quickened his footsteps a fraction, thinking that perhaps he could leave his thoughts behind. Behind in the past, his old ways, his old self. Somehow, the distance between Will and Nico, which had once seemed like no more than ten feet, now seemed to have stretched to the vast distance of the sea. The more he walked, the further he got.

"Hey, Nico. Why are you walking so slowly? I don't know if this is your way of shortening the three days of the infirmary but I'm definitely not allowing you to get any less treatment than you require. You have been fighting for the whole of your life, and sort of knowing you, there must be some injuries that you haven't properly taken care of. The faster we get to the infirmary, the quicker we get you all better. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

Nico's spine tingled slightly at the closeness of the two. He could practically feel the perspiration coming from Will and the heat was unbearable. Not to mention that Nico wasn't one for physical contact. Nico didn't reply, but he couldn't help but think how much Will spoke, in contrast to the little he did.

Nico released a long sigh. "Yeah, sure whatever." Will looked gobsmacked. His hands flew to his chest and he held them there in mock surprise.

"You speak? That's the first time I've heard you speak since you first arrived in Camp! And that was like years ago! You know, it's actually..." Nico gave a small mental groan as he reached for the non-existent hoodie around the collar of his shirt. Realising there wasn't one, he settled for plugging both index fingers into his ears and glaring at Will. He talked way too much, even more than Percy.

They suddenly stopped before the infirmary. Nico looked toward Will, confused. Why had they stopped. For the first time since he confessed to Percy, Nico picked his head up. Before him stood a familiar building. It was one he had been pushed to many times, most of which by himself. Somehow or another, he had managed to convince himself that he had a mental problem, but he never set foot inside it.

He had seen it so many times before, so what was different now? Thinking that perhaps Will had something to tell him to distract him from the sight, Nico looked to his left and realised that Will wasn't there. He heard a voice call for him from the right and found Will standing there, a hip leaning against the walls of the infirmary.

"Hey, you coming?" Nico instinctively covered his ears immediately, guessing that Will would have gone on to elaborate in the glories of that clinical structure and the countless lives that had been saved inside. Nico sighed and let his hands drop back to the sides one he saw no new movement of Will's lips. Muttering a string of Italian curses, he hesitatingly lifted a foot of the ground, hovering above the premises of the infirmary.

"Oh! You're scared of treatment? Or perhaps the infirmary? Now now child, it's not the least bit scary. You see that child over there?" Will jabbed a thumb in the direction a sea-green eyed boy. "He was just treated and left. See? He looks much healthier!" Nico resisted the urge to just tell Will to shut up.

Instead, he mumbled, "I know who that is you know? That's Percy and he just came back. From a quest to save humanity. You can't fool me with those old tricks. I'm not the young naive child I once was, you know." If Will heard it, he ignored it.

Nico frowned and pressed his hands against his stomach tighter. The persistent hunger was unrelenting. Pursuing his lips together to form a straight line, he felt his breaths come out heavy and shuddering. He gulped and put his foot down on the floor. It was about as cold as it looked. He knew certain campers liked to come to the infirmary to avoid camp duties, but he never understood why, and if anything, this was the moment where his cluelessness was at its peak.

Will clapped his hands excitedly as if entering the infirmary was a great task. At this, Nico felt annoyed, and maybe just a little embarrassed. To be praised for such an easy act was pathetic, even for him. Nico looked to Will and was glad to find that he wasn't looking his way. Had he, he'd have seen a small boy, blushing a furious shade of red.

Nico waited for Will to turn around and when he did, Nico gestured to him, asking him through actions what he was supposed to do. The only reason he gestured and did not speak was in hope that Will would get that Nico wasn't one for speaking.

Will led Nico into a room far at the back of the infirmary, a room Nico had never seen before and guessed was the same for the rest of the camp. It wasn't that he had asked; the appearance itself gave it away. The curtain that separated the rooms blended against the walls of the rest of the structure.

Nico lifted a hand from his stomach to feel the fabric of the curtain. It was heavy and rough, unnoticeable to the average passer-by, like Nico in this case. Will smirked when he saw Nico's surprised face hurriedly change back to one of neutrality.

"If you are shocked, just show it. Everyone who I've brought here couldn't stop talking about it. I don't trust you're an exception." Will happily rested his shoulder against the interior of the small room and closed the curtain after Nico. Nico scowled. He hated it when people spoke to him like that, like he was still that small unassuming ten-year-old he had once been, one easy to laugh, to crack a smile, to just show a little more exaggerated expressions.

Shrugging off the irritation, Nico ambled over to the bed and gently settled into it. He felt the folds of the bedspread below him and he rubbed it in curiosity of its texture. It was soft and velvety, like it was made specially for some royalty. Nico forced down the shock.

Will stood in front of him, too close for Nico's preference. He shifted away to the opposite end of the bed uncomfortably, completely ignoring the look on Will's face. For the second time in the hour, Nico cleared his throat to get Will's attention. Will was rather startled, jumping back, then following that with a head turned in Nico's direction.

Shrugging when Nico didn't say anything, he turned back to what Nico assumed to be a doctor's kit for the injured. Suppressing the rising discomfort, Nico turned to look around the room which he hadn't been able to before due to the pace of which they were walking at.

It was a grey-tiled room, giving Nico this certain feeling of being watched whatever he did. Bright lights were situated at the four corners of the room and an especially large in the middle. Nico resisted reaching up to cover his eyes from the strain the lights were giving him.

Across the room, directly behind Will, was a set of white shades that blocked out even more light from the outdoors, Nico guessed. To Will's slight left was a three-tier trolley, a light beige with supplies hanging off it. Will reached a hand to pick out a white stethoscope and plugged them into his ears with ease of who one would to plug in earpieces.

Will abruptly turned to Nico and took two large strides in his direction. Nico recoiled at the speed of which Will advanced. It reminded him vaguely of the twins in Tartarus and their ways of torturing him. Will didn't notice this and continued until he was a foot from Nico.

There was a swish of the curtain and Nico looked over Will's shoulder to see who that was. It was Kayla, and she gave the two a curt nod, her gaze lingering on Nico a bit longer than meant to be. Giving Kayla a two-finger wave, Nico sat stiffly on the bed, hopefully looking less awkward than he felt. It had been ages since the last time he did this, and it was almost something foreign, a concept he had to re-learn like a toddler learning to speak.

After taking a few supplies from the cupboard, Kayla left the room and offered the both of them a small smile, but it was only returned with one so wide that it could've made up for the other missing one.

Will motioned towards the bed, and Nico obediently lay down, consciously knowing how gravity was pushing his hair behind his ears and falling down his back. He could feel the slight change in blood flow rushing up his head. He knew how his shirt was now lying limply on his skin pulled taut around his ribs. Will leaned over Nico, hands gravitating right above Nico's chest, eyes shut in concentration. Nico could see the gold highlights on his eyelashes, stretching to the corners of his eyes, akin to following a line of veins. Nico felt the heat rush to his face. He was very well aware of the compromising position he was in right then, and he knew that Will was leaning closer and closer in.

Before he could even say or do anything, however, Will opened his eyes and straightened up.

"You're kinda injured. A deep gash somewhere and some cuts and bruises? Let me tell you something. I don't care what tall tale you're going to tell me about how you got them but I'm going to have to heal it. Don't even try to convince me against it, darlin' "

Nico glared at the name and muttered underneath his breath.

"Yeah well it wasn't like I was going to stop you, anyway." Will turned around sharply from the trolley he was taking supplies from. "Sorry?"

Nico spoke up a little now. "I, uh, want to change out of this." Will shrugged and motioned toward the bathroom. Nico was rather perturbed about Will being so...gah. Nico ran his fingers through the thick growth of hair sprouting on his head. Using the other hand, he fingered the scissors in his pocket.

He pushed open the bathroom door and proceeded to reach a hand into the shadow, meaning to take a change of clothing. He did, but along with it came a translucent hand. He swore softly and stuffed that hand into the same pocket where the scissors was.

Using the solid hand, he expertly slid his hand under the shirt and stuck it into the black hoodie's long sleeves. He pulled the neck of the current shirt above his head and popped his head into the hoodie, careful to avoid knocking his hand against the wound Lyacon had inflicted on him. Though he hid it well, the pain was getting to him. It stung and felt like a burning piece of raw flesh.

Nico moved his hand again and was relieved to find it back to its normal pale opaque form again. Sighing heavily, Nico changed fully into the black hoodie and looked down at his pants. In all honesty, he had no intention to change it. Sure, it was dusty and all, but it was the only pair of pants he was actually willing to wear. Having changed finish, Nico allowed himself one last long look in the mirror and he left.

But his hands never left the cold blade of metal around the scissors. He had had it for way too long, used it way too much, and was never going to let it get out of his reach.

Just in case he needed it.


	2. Chapter 2

Nico returned to the room, blinded by the bright light. He should really try to cover up the luminosity of the lights. When Will was not around of course. He pulled the hoodie over his eyes in a vain attempt to block out the glare.

Will caught Nico's lean figure from the corner of his eye. He contemplated calling out to him and telling him to quicken his pace to sit on the bed so he could fully treat Nico properly. Will sighed to himself and shook his head. Nico probably didn't know this, but Will had noticed that everytime he said something, Nico would just space out and not listen to whatever Will was saying. His eyes always strayed somewhere else, and his gaze never lingered on a single place for long. While Will could attribute this to his adhd, he knew that Nico found him annoying. Will suppressed a snort. In fact, unknown to Nico, Will was already beginning to rethink his decision to make Nico to stay in the infirmary. Forcing a fake smile on his face, he tried to make himself as un-annoying and un-pesky and un-sunny. Will was beginning to get rather ticked off about Nico's stubbornness and unwilling cooperation. Rolling his eyes as Nico ambled slowly back to the bed, Will strode after him and held in his hand a gauze and stitching materials, just in case Nico's wounds were so bad they required stitches.

Nico's eyes narrowed, zooming in in a particular dot within his broad range of vision. Nico released a huge breath of air through his nose and lay back down on the bed, supposedly noticing the bunch of medical equipment in Will's hand.

Absent-mindedly, Nico asked, "Aren't you a demigod?" Will turned sharply in his direction, a forced smile on his face. "Yes, i am. Why do you ask?" Nico shrugged flippantly, his whole body screaming in pain at the movement.

"I just thought children of Apollo could heal just about any other wound with their own powers." Nico stated. "Guess children of Apollo are more skilled in the arts then." He muttered, more for himself rather than Will, but he caught it anyway. Will sent a glare in Nico's direction and spoke, trying to keep the lightness in his tone.

"Well…" Will measured his words, careful to cover up any traces of distaste. "Apollo was the God of Art, of course we'd be talented in the arts." Nico looked boredly at Will.

"So children of Apollo's healing skills are...average." Will gritted his teeth. "No, we are better than the average person, but it just so happens that the trouble you got yourself into was beyond just talent, so i've to resort to using mortal methods." Will stopped as Nico stared at him blankly again, obviously nothing going into that head of his. Sighing, Will picked up a towel beside him and walked over to Nico to press it down on his open wounds. His feet shuffled, soles barely lifting off the ground. Nico flinched as Will strode over and he instinctively scrambled toward the corner of the bed. Will raised an unimpressed eyebrow and shook the towel in his hand.

"Nico, i need to stop the bleeding you know, and staying in a tiny corner ain't exactly helping." Nico gave a half-hearted glare. Shrugging, Will set himself onto the bed and tried to get nearer to Nico. He was reaching at the blanket, guiding himself toward Nico, weaving around his legs. Momentarily stunned, Nico pulled the sheets from under Will up to his chin and Will was sent falling onto the ground, hands first. Groaning, Will pushed himself up from the ground and leaned his back against the bedframe, briefly checking the scratches on his palms. Shooting Nico a quick glance, he thrust the towel in his direction. His voice was icy cold, not even trying to hide the mounting displeasure in his tone.

"Here. Do it yourself." Nico hesitantly moved an inch forward, gave a quick check on Will's arm and snatched the towel from his hand. Pressing against his side like he'd done so many times before, he warily studied Will inconspicuously, looking over his shoulder. Nico swallowed down a gasp. His right forearm had a long superficial cut that traced all the way to his elbow and the blood surrounding it had crusted, giving it a rather gory look. Nico licked his dry lips and turned away, both too embarrassed and unable to apologise. Forcing himself to look away, he pressed against the wound harder, making it sting like crazy, but it was a good distraction from the boy by the side. Clipping his tongue between his teeth, he settled for being less of a nuisance.

Will must have caught Nico staring because he whipped around, perhaps a little too fast than what his body could handle, but he was a second too late for Nico had returned to his tiny haven-the corner of the bed. Will sighed and shook his head slowly, a small act of concession and lost faith. He stood up and left to the bathroom, washing off the surrounding area and cleansing the cut. Picking his head up to look in the mirror, he sighed and his hand reached for the it, tracing the outline of his face. Mumbling a little ritual to Apollo, he watched a little gold glow emit from the cut and it closed up to form a thin line, scarily similar to the one playing on his lips. Shaking his head, he turned on the tap and splashed water onto his face, feeling droplets of it slide down his cheekbones and drip off his chin.

He walked toward the door and was about to open it when he noticed a long triangular shape on the ground. He bent down to pick it up and he examined it, only to realise later that it was the thing at the blade of a scissors, the blade protector or something. He pressed his lips together to form a thin, grim line, and he shoved it into his pocket without a second thought. It was really dangerous to leave something like that on the floor where somebody could easily trip over it. Not that many people knew about the room at all, but those who did, well...it did concern their safety too.

He pushed open the door and found Nico staring blankly at the wall across him, his palms facing downwards on his knees, tapping away idly at his thighs. Nico turned his head abruptly when he heard the door creak open and he discreetly studied the closed-up wound, now a faint scar, hiding the stiffness in his movements like an expert. Seeing Nico checking him so carefully, Will mentally chided himself for losing his temper earlier so quickly, and made it a point not to now. Forcing the ends of his lips upwards, he proceeded to check on Nico again, ignoring the million possibilities of what would happen to him again.

Tentatively, he reached his hand out to flip Nico's left arm over. He could see Nico' panic and fear in his eyes as he struggled against Will's grip. For a boy who had just injured himself, Nico was putting up a good fight, but Will held on tighter. Will let one of his hands off Nico's wrist and crossed his arms over to push up Nico's long sleeves so that he could finish and get over with the full medical procedure, and when he was done with it, he could get Kayla or Austin to take over. Or maybe not. It depended, he supposed. Maybe if he had nothing better to do or if Nico was really seriously hurt, he would remain his doctor until he was recovered.

Seizing that chance of distraction, Nico gave a hard tug and freed his hand, bringing it in protectively, nuzzling it gingerly into the pocket. Keeping his head low, Nico picked his feet up and swung it feebly over the side of the bed, still giving Will a wide berth.

"While you were in the washroom, i, uh, doctored myself. I should be fine. I'll get going." Nico spoke between ragged breaths. Will narrowed his eyes. He saw the limp in Nico's step, and the way he was so cautiously covering his arm. Will rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the grey walls of the room.

"Hah, well, i can see that." Waiting for Nico to turn around so he could give him a lopsided smirk, Will continued. "I'll be expecting you back here tonight, because obviously, the wounds you left untreated are the more serious ones, and," Will paused to point at the place where he had earlier instructed Nico to press on and circled the air around it. "And, that wound was pretty badly stitched up." Nico glared at Will, giving him the full-on death glare. To his advantage, Will shuddered and cringed, shivering under the cold heartless gaze of Nico's.

"What do you expect when you're on the run, huh? A perfect stitch? Dream on, Solace. I won't be coming back here, no matter what. Keep that special room of your cleaned up for the next victim of your oh-so-godly healing skills." Nico remarked, giving the curtain a hard swish as he left. He sauntered out of the infirmary, feeling nowhere as painless as he looked. His demeanour earned a few looks cast in his direction, but the only one Nico truly noticed was Kayla, as she dropped all her medical supplies and stormed into the back room, probably to scold Will for letting Nico go so easily. Even as he pushed open the door to leave, he could hear Kayla's loud exasperated voice hurling curses at Will. Just as he was about to step out of the infirmary, he heard footsteps behind him, quickening and becoming louder and louder.

Nico followed the pace of the footsteps as he pushed the door open and sped out into the open. Never had he ever been so glad to see the outside in all his life. He took in a breath of fresh air and braced himself for the pain that was to come. Rolling back his shoulders, he stood on the balls of his feet and, he ran. He felt the thundering footsteps that followed decelerate quickly, almost softening till Nico could barely hear any trace of it.

However, as soon as he stopped to get the tightness out of his lungs, he heard the footsteps return, but it had company. Without turning to check who it was, Nico took off again, at the speed of light. If Nico's guess was right, Kayla had managed to get the entire Apollo cabin at his heels like one would do to a prey. Nico's stomach lurched at the thought of eating anything at all. Shaking away the bile rising up his throat, he eyed a change in path just up ahead. Pushing his limits, he shoved past the thick overgrown weeds at the forest and turned a sharp bend, hoping to lose them.

Nico slowed a fraction, and ducked behind a small bush big enough to cover his thin frame. He felt his chest heave, and in the silence, his short breaths rang loudly, reverberating throughout the forest. Nico kept an ear out, occasionally turning around to check for any followers, but there was none.

Waiting a few moments for the tight knot in his stomach to unravel, he gingerly brought an arm across his side and lifted his shirt slightly. Nico winced at the sight. It was a dull shade of red, spread across his stomach and stretching up, tracing his ribs and lining the chest, where the deep gash finally ended. With a grimace, he clenched the fabric in his hands as a jolt of pain was sent through his body.

Releasing the shirt when the pain subsided a little, he willed his arms to push him up onto his legs and he stumbled forward. The sunlight pierced through his vision, making it near to impossible to make out more than three feet in front of him. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and slowly hobbled back in the direction of a dull black cabin, what he assumed was his cabin.

He used his body weight to open the door, stumbling in when the door gave way and tripping over his own two feet. Lying on the floor, he extended his leg to push the door close, and he felt the familiarity of the darkness in his cabin.

Not bothering to get up, reasoning that Hazel had probably returned anyway and there was no one to see him like that, he rested his arm on his stomach, arching his back when the pain started up again. Sighing, he put the other arm under his head as he looked up toward the ceiling of the cabin.

Praying for a restful sleep from his father, he dozed off, only to wake up seconds later to the sound of persistent knocking on the door. Deciding that it was likely to be suspicious for him not to open the door, he sat up in a sitting position and put both arms on the bed to prop him up.

Pursing his lips to prevent the cry threatening to escape his lips from emerging, he staggered over to the door and with the last bit of his strength, he opened the door, and his face fell. Two faces stared back at him, with the same amount of exasperation on their faces.

Giving Nico a look of brotherly concern and care, the boy spoke, "well, hello to you to Nico. I suppose its the right time to ask about your absence from the infirmary?"


	3. Chapter 3

Nico frowned. "Why should i be in the infirmary? I'm not even that injured!" He protested to no avail. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Huh. Now let's see. Who was hurt by Lyacon? Who hadn't eaten in ages? Who was kept captured and tortured?" Percy hesitated even as he said it, like it hadn't sounded the way he planned it, regretting ever saying it moments later.

"You," Nico seethed. "of all people should know that i don't like to talk about it. And don't give me that bullshit. Who was the one sent into Tartarus?" Nico's voice wavered as he said it. It was a small, negligible act that neither of the two boys picked up on. Jason sighed.

"Percy. And you." Jason replied. He grunted in frustration. "Ugh, can't you just go to the infirmary? If it pleases you, me and this bro here will go too, okay?" Jason slung an arm over Percy's shoulder and they both nodded. Nick shook his head in defiance.

"No, I won't and you can't make me. Go on your own if you want, just don't trouble me." Jason and Percy both opened their mouth to speak, perhaps another few words of persuasion, maybe even coercion, but Nico got to it first.

Putting a hand up in front of both their faces, he spoke, "I'll see you when i see you. Bye."

Nico shut the door in their faces. From within the cabin, Nico could hear the two grumbling and mumbling about Nico's stubbornness. Their conversation drifted away, and Nico presumed they had walked on and away from his cabin. Nico could barely contain a smile of his own. It was true that they were both children of the big three, but that sure didn't stop then from becoming close friends of each other. While many speculated that they would fight for dominance, and compare daily who was stronger or more capable, they ignored it all, getting along with each other like biological brothers. To mortals, it seemed that they were real brothers, but every demigod at camp all knew the small chances that one of the big three would have such a long affair with mortal women. Thoughts clouded his mind and for a second, he was in dreamland.

Those kinds of thoughts distracted Nico, allowing him a moment of painlessness, being just like the average boy without struggles at all. But that moment never lasted for long, and the pain always came back, though by now Nico was definitely used to it. In a second, the thoughts left him. Fatigue suddenly hit him and he lethargically picked his feet up from below him, ordering them to move, a step at a time.

He wanted a bath, something to get him some relief, give him a sense of purity and freedom. He could barely make it to the bathroom without falling over, and wincing. He heaved his legs up, one at a time, into the shower, and he stripped himself of his clothes.

He turned the tap on and cold water came gushing out, a concentrated stream, knocking and bouncing of the sharp angles that formed his head. He let his arms meet the wall, colliding with a soft thud. Cold water never failed to awaken him, and let him bathe in the comforting feeling of icy droplets soaking his body. The water hit his bony spine, and his neck, the back of his head, wetting his messy hair, letting or clump together in a thick lump. The water traced it's way down his back, coming into contact with the red raw wound at his side. He winced and grimaced, though not with pain, but rather, in pleasure.

Pain gave him the feeling of reality, made him feel alive, awake, invincible even, sometimes. It gave him the feeling of great strength, that he was capable of dealing with such excruciating pain. Warped as it was, such was the truth. He even turned to injuring himself, when that feeling of momentary euphoria left him. And he'd do it again and again, with each time leaving more irreversible scars lining the underside of his forearm. It was a secret, a secret he never told, a secret he'd never tell. His artworks multiplied day by day, stroke by stroke. His gallery grew over time, and the day he left his first masterpiece was the day Bianca went to hell.

The water seemed to become warmer and warner as he sank deeper into thought. Frowning, he turned the tap again, changing it from the normal temperature to the temperature of that on a cold winter night. Nico shivered, the blood flow at his side clotting immediately under the cold water. Goosebumps peppered his arms and back, his neck tingled at the sensation. His eyes watched the last few traces of blood being washed away, down the drain of the shower. Shutting his eyes, he was well aware that his smooth olive skin was beginning to crinkle as the water continued to soak his skin.

He pushed back from the wall, turning off the tap as he did so. The cold water had left his skin feeling colder than before. He opened his eyes, blinking away the water that had seeped through his eyelids. Drying himself off with a towel, he shot a glance at the mirror. Somehow, with each time that he looked at his reflection in the mirror, the more he felt the urge to slam his fist against it, cracking the mirror in the process. Nico could already see the crack lines forming in his imagination, as vivid as ever, and the beautiful shards of glass in smithereens, all on the tiles on the ground, around him. He blinked multiple times to get the image out of his head. He then pinched himself to rid himself of the thoughts and slipped on his clothes, walking back out into his cabin, Lyacon's wound no more than a memory at that point of time.

He heard his stomach rumble, and he made a quick job of choosing to go for dinner. He drew the curtains slightly and looked out his window and he sighed. It was already about time to go for meals. He had been thinking about getting the little rest he had planned to get earlier before Jason and Percy came, then going to dinner, purely for attendance's sake. Pulling his hoodie over his head, he shoved his hands into his pockets and lowered his head as he left the cabin, shuffling his feet, lazy to pick it up above the ground.

It had to be about evening; the sun was setting, the golden yolk meeting the grassy panes in a straight line. Nico didn't have a watch to confirm anything, but he caught many campers beginning to assemble at the respective tables. Nico sighed. At least he'd be alone and there would not be anyone there to ensure he ate. After all, he wasn't there to eat. He was there so no one would go to his cabin and check, and so that the Apollo cabin knew what he was up to. Nico's mouth twitched into a scowl just as he thought about that cabin. Especially because of Will. What an annoying geek. All he knew to do was go around, sunny facade and all, spreading joy and whatever, then going to the infirmary to torture him with much-too-bright smiles and 'doctor's orders'.

Nico sighed and felt his feet move. He knew where his feet were leading him to, and trusted them to bring him to his table. Meanwhile, he subconsciously scratched his wrists, his long fingernails digging deep into his skin. He thought about what Percy thought of him now that Nico had come out to him. Sure, he had acted all normal with Jason earlier, but what if that was just so that Jason would still view him as his 'bro'? Maybe, Nico thought, Percy had secretly told everyone in the camp, and everyone now hated him. He bit his lips, his tongue tasting the familiar thin metallic copper taste as it spread about his mouth. Nico looked up, searching for the campers' faces. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure, tall and lean. He turned his head toward him in a frenzy, and he caught the leer smile on his face. He turned to his left, and caught a female's lips moving, mouthing insults, directed at Nico. He shrank smaller into his hoodie and wrung his hands. He removed them from his pockets and raised them to the top of his hood, intending to pull it down.

A drop of red liquid trickled down his forearm from his left wrist, dripping off at the elbow. It landed on his eyelashes, and as he closed his eyes, the red blotched his vision, tainting it a bright vivid colour. He dropped his arms back to his sides and stuck them back into the pockets. The voices were becoming louder, overlapping each other, each insult and smirk worse than the previous. The voices rang in his head, and he spun around, trying to find the culprit for this. His breaths shallowed and came out short and breathless. He swallowed down the bile in his throat. Images of the twins floated up and blurred in his mind. He felt the punches and kicks, the gnawing hunger, all over again. He felt blood envelop him like it had done so many times before. He wanted to curl into a ball and hide in a hole, where he'd be forgotten and unseen.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and he spun around, a scream working its way up his throat. Blue eyes met his, and for a second, Nico feared it was Will who had come to capture him and lock him in that dungeon of an infirmary.

"Nico? It's me, Kayla." Nico flinched away from her hand, ducking under it as she tried again to place it on his shoulder. Nico looked closely at her and calmed down when he realised it really was Kayla. Her eyes were a sparkling bluebell shade, freckles evenly spread out on across her rounded face. Kayla looked at him, meeting his gaze halfway as if studying the flawless olive skin that tightly wrapped his body. Her fancy colored hair was a burst of colour, seemingly for the sole purpose of making Nico shun away from the rainbow practically living on her head. She waved her sun tanned arm in front of his face.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Scowling, Nico walked past her in a vain attempt to shoo her away. Kayla was not taking it and took a step to her left to block Nico from moving. She put her arms up to the sides such that Nico didn't have a chance of escaping.

"Nico, you can't just keep avoiding the entire Apollo cabin. It's quite obvious you are in dire need of help. If you are so against it, you can just object to Will to being your doctor. Austin or myself can be in place of him. The only reason he is actually your doctor is because he is the best. But he isn't always the only choice."

Nico grunted and muttered under his breath a small "Apollo's children still talk too much". Kayla gave a inquisitive expression, one that Nico chose to ignore as he shook his head and declined the offer. Kayla dropped her hands to their sides, deflated, as she shrugged and walked off.

Kayla sighed and left for the Apollo cabin's tables. It was safe to say that Apollo had many children, considering that he had near to three tables allocated to his offsprings. Kayla thought about it. And probably also due to the fact that he was the dream man of every mortal, female and male. Sliding into the small gap Will had left for her, she scraped a tenth of the food off her plate and muttered a soft prayer of appreciation to the Gods. Then, he began to eat the food in front of her.

Will glanced at her plate and smirked. It was her favourite meal of grilled salmon with mango salsa. He nudged her gently and when she didn't answer, he hit her shoulder lightly until she finally turned.

" 'ssup Will." Kayla said and returned to her food. Will rolled his eyes and tapped her again. She sighed and faced Will again.

"What is it that you require now, brother?" Kayla exhaled in a single breath. Will rested his right elbow onto the table and let his head fall to his open palm. "Don't you find Nico...really annoying, like troublesome?" Kayla raised an eyebrow and turned her head to observe Nico. He was sitting at his table, back hunched, occasionally turning behind as if there were a predator coming to hunt its prey. Everytime he turned back to his food, he'd pick at the scraps, and not long later, he'd turn again, and again, and again, and when he finally stopped for a while, he pushed his sleeves up and rubbed the skin along his forearm. Then, the turning returned.

"Not so much troublesome. More like…" Kayla pursed her lips. "...troubling, or troubled, if you must." Will scoffed light-heartedly. "Yes, well, as long as you're not his doctor. You don't know how frustrating it gets when he asks for this and that, does this and that, whatever."

Kayla tilted her head to the side. "Didn't you order him to go to the infirmary for three days and he swore on the Styx to too?" Will shrugged.

"That was before i knew he was like that. And, can't you see the regret on my face?" Will stuck his head up her face to prove his point.

Kayla playfully pushed his head away and ruffled his hair. "But, Will, thing is, he swore to, and you know what happens when someone does that." She turned to look at him again. "I guess i'll just be his doctor then."

Will gaped at her. "What do you mean you'll be his doctor? Do you even know what it's like to be his doctor, or how difficult a patient he is? Oh Gods, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into." Kayla frowned.

"Are you alright Will? You never used to give up on patients so easily...is it because of the stress of so many patients right now?"

Will sighed and rubbed his temples soothingly. "Maybe. I mean, look around you, the war has just ended, half the campers are in the infirmary, the remaining ones here are sitting on wood, like literal wood. Then, the patients in the infirmary are going to start asking for food, and then telling me about their missing this and thats as if i'm going to scout the entire camp for that one toenail. And now there's this boy with a, put it this way, high maintenance rate requiring all of my time. And-" Kayla shoved a portion of fish into his mouth to stop Will from talking for a least a minute. Will widened his eyes then pouted, chewing the salmon reluctantly despite enjoying it secretly.

"It's okay, really. Hm, how about this then? I relieve you of all your duties…" Kayla looked at Will as he stopped chewing for a second. "...but then you must take on di Angelo. He definitely won't be too pleased about it, i can assure you, but it's the best way. You are the best doctor at camp anyway." The excited gleam in Will's eyes died down while he thought about it.

After mulling over it for a whole five minutes, he conceded.

"Fine, i'll do it."


	4. Chapter 4

Nico glanced toward the Apollo cabin's table again, and found Kayla talking to Will. He wrinkled his nose. How could someone have an amiable conversation with that douchebag without him just randomly giving orders? Ugh...it was simply a horrendous stay in the infirmary with him as his doctor.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it sure wasn't pleasant either. It was, for the most part, the two arguing and bickering over nothing too important, both because Nico had nothing better to do and due to the fact that Nico was rather easy to set off those few days.

He turned to look behind him again, and he knew he had made a mistake. Everytime he turned, he always felt this tingle, this shiver, this threatening aura, looming around. He heard voices, voices that lured him to go to them, to kill himself, to be the malicious warrior children of Hades were expected to be, and sometimes, he listened. But on other occasions, the voices didn't just give him 'advice' they told him what others thought of him, how cold and heartless he was, how unfeeling, intimidating, and spooky he seemed to carry himself as.

He gulped and turned back to the table. He looked to his left and right, and he felt a sudden pang of loneliness. After so long, he was still isolated, excluded from people. He tapped his fingers on his thigh, having nothing better to do, and felt around the cold sharp blade of the scissors. It was smooth and hard, a solid piece of metal, perfect for cutting He cracked a smile, and he immediately slapped himself mentally. It was already wrong to want to live a life of scars, weaknesses and mistakes, in plain sight, and yet there he was, relishing in the idea with such professional discretion.

Shaking his head, disgusted, he swiveled his head toward the Apollo cabin's table again and was only a little surprised when he didn't find Kayla talking to anyone. Smirking on the inside, he thought about how Kayla must have also found him a nuisance like he had. Stretching out his legs, he crossed them just above the ankles and contemplated for a brief moment reaching into the shadows to grab his earphones.

He had taken them when he made a wrong turn in the labyrinth and found himself in a graveyard. It was a dark spooky night, and he saw the earphones on the ground. He made a correct guess that no one would come to get back the pair of earphones and he seized it, then returned to the labyrinth.

Rolling back his shoulders, he darted his eyes left to right and he snuck a finger into the nearby shadow and fumbled about for the earphones without a clue of where it was. Just as he was about to draw back his hand and give up the search, he found it and grabbed it with what was left of his fading hand. Pulling back his hand about as fast as he grabbed the earphones, he plugged them into a tiny portable music player and pushed the two ends into his ears. He increased the volume till it was blasting in his ears but he didn't care. Well, as long as nobody could hear what he was hearing.

Nico frowned and took out the earplugs, straining his ears to see if he could hear it when it wasn't in his ear. All he could hear was a faint hum, nothing too obvious or distinct. Shaking his head, he was about to plugged them back in. Music blasted out of it-his favourite song-and he tapped his feet to the beat.

He glanced down at his food and poked at it for show. It looked like a chunk of organic matter soaked in soup-like sauce, watery, and dribbling at the edges of the plate. He cracked his knuckles and shook his crossed legs in a frivolous manner. He had nothing to do, no goal in life. Well, his only goal was to live each day and not die. And it wasn't really so much as 'nothing to do' rather than 'nothing he wanted to do'.

He didn't notice the inching footsteps behind him, or the clearing of a throat; he was immersed in his own isolated world. Two fingers touched his back, sending a chill down his spine.

He flinched and scrambled away, thinking that the twins had come back to take him. Not caring about the befuddled looks on all the campers and ignoring Chiron's pleas for him to just calm down, he stood up, so abrupt that it sent the bench being flipped over as he did so and fled. Or so he tried to. It must have been either due to malnutrition or the lack of sleep, but as he ran, his knees buckled under him and he tripped.

Nevertheless, he pushed himself up and propelled himself forward, toward the forest, where he was out of sight of the campers. His shaggy black hair fell over his eyes and obscured his line of sight. He heard footsteps, loud and thundering in his ears. His head felt as though it had been stabbed, over and over again, the searing pain coursing through his body. The wound at his side opened up and he could feel the blood seeping through and soaking his shirt. His vision overlapped, and there were two of everything. Everything was doubled. He slowed his pace and held his hands in front of him. It fogged and blurred, the image zooming in and out of focus. The sun...it was too bright. The glaring light took over his vision as he ran.

He really tried. Really. He used all the strength he had left in him. He didn't want to be back at the Underworld again, never. He wouldn't let them get him. The twins...no. They musn't get him, not this time. But why...why couldn't his legs move...his arms...they hung at his sides, limp like a sagged banana peel.

He fell backwards, head first, and crumpled heap, and as his head collided with the ground, the darkness at the corners of his eyes meeting in the middle at last.  
_

Nico awoke to a light slap across the cheek. His eyes flew open and his lips curled into a snarl.

"Voi stronzo...Non hai niente di meglio da fare…" Nico swore in italian, so soft Will had to lean in to hear. Will rolled his eyes and leaned over him, shining flashlights into his eyes with one hand, the other prying his eyes open. Nico squirmed at the contact and pulled away, bringing the sheets over his eyes. His head felt like it was being hammered away at, a rhythmic thump, and his hands felt like lead.

He folded his arms across his stomach, cupping them at the elbows. While the air felt ice-cold, his arms were hot to the touch, like a boiler. Hesitantly, he brought his hands up to his forehead and grimaced when the skin around his wound stretched, feeling the temperature of it. He recoiled. Just as he thought, it was boiling hot.

"Yes it is. Hundred and four degrees fahrenheit, and climbing still." Will sighed from above the covers, responding to Nico's unspoken thought. "Listen. I wouldn't be doing this unless Kayla offered to take over my duties. And, for the information, I was the one who tapped your shoulder. Didn't know you'd have such an adverse reaction to it." Nico grunted, unable to hide to embarrassment creeping up his cheeks.

Will frowned and reached for the covers to peel them away from Nico. As he just touched it, however, Nico threw it off and stared at Will, not realising how close Will's hand was to his face. "Whatever. Just get this doctor stuff over and done with. I want to leave." Will shrugged and drew back, knowing not to expect a pretty reaction when Nico took in the proximity between them.

Nico took the chance to look around him now and he realised he was in the same room as before. He stole a quick glimpse through the window. When he fled the dining pavilion, it had been just sunset. Now, it was pitch-black, as if reflecting the current state of his soul. Shadows were cast in the oddest places, and the moonlight danced along the tops of trees.

Nico caught Will returning and he returned to his grumpy expression, such a quick change in behaviour that one would have needed to replay it over and over again to notice it. Will slid him a cube of ambrosia across the table at the edge of the bed and Nico strained his hand to get it. He could see Will reaching out to it to pass it to him and Nico swiped it off the table, into his waiting hand. Will blew out the air through his nose and took the clipboard from the wall behind Nico. Nico scrutinised his facial expressions as it turned from a deadpanned look to one of pure pleasure.

A wave of exhaustion flooded over him and a loud jarring sound rang in his ears. He stuffed the cube of ambrosia into his mouth and thought about how his ears felt like they were bleeding pools of dark rich blood. His blood. Taking deep steadying breaths while trying to hide his extreme discomfort, he peered at the clipboard that Will was holding. If Nico guessed right, it was Nico's medical health and history. If anyone told him his medical history, that is.

He looked toward the ceiling, his unkempt hair falling over his face. It was probably around midnight, with the looming dark clouds covering the stars. He turned to the left and found a mirror. Deep chocolate brown orbs stared back at him, daring him to stand up and punch it. Nico tore his gaze away from it and looked to the left. It was the wall. How interesting.

Will clucked his tongue. "Okay, based on your non-existent medical history, please tell me what you have done to land yourself in here."

Nico didn't even have to think about it. "You made me swear to."

Will raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Good job Nico. Didn't know that." Nico shrugged.

"You asked me, and you should be glad you got an answer."

Will crossed his arms. "I thought you were smart enough to figure out that I was indirectly telling you to tell me what injuries you have."

"But in other words, you were directly telling me to tell you why i was here." Nico pointed out smartly. Will facepalmed and pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering something under his breath that Nico didn't quite catch.

"Okay. So tell me what injuries you have." Will finally said, surrendering to his fate. Nico stared back at him. "Can't you tell from you son of Apollo's abilities?" Will glared at him.

"Yes, but I think you'd rather me not touch you so I'm giving you the option, though it seems like you don't like it so…" Nico scowled and put his hand up weakly in front of Will to prevent any accidental contact.

"Okay okay, Solace." Nico grumbled, giving up at last. Will put on a pleased grin. "I have a um...wound from Lyacon and some other stuff like uhh...you know torture marks? Yeah those too." Will's pleased expression morphed into one of disbelief.

"And you thought it'd be alright not to tell anyone." Nico shrugged and looked away, signalling that the conversation was over. Will hunched his shoulders, then rolled them back and put on a grim look.

"Okay well this will take a while longer so I will do it later. In the morning, I mean. As of now, you go to sleep and I go to sleep. 'Night." Nico, from under the covers, didn't respond, and Will rolled his eyes, flipping the light switch off as he left the infirmary for the night.

Little did Will know, as soon as he left, Nico got up and walked into the bathroom, fingering the scissors in his pocket for the millionth time. Nico looked into the mirror, and the deep boiling hatred for everything exploded, like the trigger had finally been pulled. He brought the scissors out of his pocket and raised it to his arm, not even flinching as the moonlight cast a long ugly shadow of the blade.

He took one last long look in the mirror, and with a crack of his knuckles, he turned to lock the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Will put his palms, facing downwards, two inches above Nico's bare wound. Nico shifted about uncomfortably, and for the hundredth time, Will gave Nico a glare. Nico felt the cold wind brushing his skin and he cringed. Will frowned and once again told Nico to stop wriggling. Nico stopped, not out of embarrassment or shock, but to have a mental image of slapping Will across his cheek.

"Let me guess," Will deadpanned while working on the wound. His eyes were glowing a warm gold, his fingers drumming the air. "You're thinking of slapping me."

Nico was, truthfully, rather taken aback, but he hid it. "So what if I am? Are you going to stop me from thinking that you are an annoying twat?" Will snorted humourlessly at the insult.

"As are you" was his only reply as he shook his head and let the power of Apollo take over his system. Gold sparks danced on his fingertips and Nico could see the gold stitches falling into place on his skin. It was painless, but whether it was because it was an effect of using Apollo's gift or because he was used to it, he did not know. And he did not wish to find out. He was scared that he had lost his last thing that connected him to the world; the capacity to have feelings, deep rich sincere feelings.

Nico promptly kept quiet, to Will's surprise. He had expected Nico to come up with something to refute his point, and Will did not at all doubt his abilities to. What confused him was the silence. Will shrugged it off as he continued to stitch the wound up.

Like the professional he was, the stitches were seamless, flawless, and perfect. They were stitched so well that even when Nico looked at it closely, all he could see was a fine line.

Nico marvelled at the work, caressing it gingerly like it was worth a million dollars.

"Apollo's gift." Will stated simply, well aware that Nico found him annoying if he said too much. Nico just nodded, and Will didn't even know if Nico had heard him.

Will walked over to the bathroom of the infirmary, totally unaware of the panic mounting up inside Nico. While Nico had made sure not to leave any evidence open in the scene, humans were known to err, and especially so for this particular one. Will took off his gloves and threw them into the little bin as Nico bit his lips in nervousness. If Nico's calculations were correct, Kayla would've taken out the trash at seven, and it was currently twelve. In the afternoon. But if he was wrong, or if Kayla had forgotten...he was so dead. His lips moved in a silent prayer to his father and to calm himself.

Nico barely noticed when Will left the bathroom and only realised when Will was beside him to take his temperature.

"Stop fiddling around Nico. It makes my job way harder when you do that. Now, you want this to be quickly over and done with, don't you?" Will used his simpering voice, glazed with way too many layers of sugar and syrup. Nico cringed.

"Don't talk to me like a little kid. I'm not you know? And," Nico rose his voice a little as Will opened his mouth to speak. "It pleases me to see you floundering through your work."

"Sadistic child." Will muttered, meaning it only for his ears and no one's else's. But as the Gods had it, Nico heard him.

"Are you not, Solace?" Nico snarled. Will leaned back against the chair and twirled the thermometer in his hand.

"I don't know…" Will began. "Why don't you give me an example, smart-alec?"

Nico took this as a challenge. "Oh yeah? What about you going around the infirmary injecting lethal venom into demigods' bodies?"

Will scoffed. "It wasn't venomous. They left already, because they got better as an effect of that 'lethal venom' and you would have too, if you weren't such a troublesome git."

Nico refused to back down, and instead, sat straight up. "Maybe not that. How about you smiling cruelly as you tell females to strip to 'examine' them?" Will put a hand to his chest, offended.

"Excuse me di Angelo, but if you can't already tell, I'm in charge of males in the infirmary." Will retorted, then added softly. "And also, it's not like I'm particularly interested in females anyway."

Nico heard it, and he rolled his eyes. "If you're homosexual, just say it. Not like anyone cares anyway."

Will's eyes twitched. "I'm sorry, but if you're so comfortable, then tell me your sexuality." Nico's eyes must have given him away, for Will carried on. "See? Talk about people caring."

Nico did not comment, and he yielded. He didn't want to have the reputation of being loud-mouthed especially since he was not. In addition, it would make him seem like a two-faced person who changed personality when he was with different people.

Sensing something odd about Nico's response, or the lack of thereof, Will did not press Nico and carried on with his duties. Will picked up his gold thread and needle and stuffed them into a box. He then placed the box back on the trolley and turned to Nico.

"Do you want lunch cos I'm gonna get some food." Will offered with the most patience as he could muster. Nico gave him a bewildered look and shook his head. Will shrugged and went to get food for himself, meeting Kayla on the way back from the meal.

"Hey, Will, aren't you getting Nico something to eat?" Will shook his head. "He claimed he wasn't hungry and if he doesn't want to eat, I shan't force him into it. He's probably going to have some tricks up his sleeve to either get rid of the food and waste my efforts or just be so insistent on not eating until i yield."

Kayla understood what Will meant and bade him goodbye. Will sighed. He had wished to spend more time with his siblings but after this war, despite it being just one day following it, was already about as dreadful as Nico painted the world to be. Deflated, Will returned to the infirmary, and for the first time since his appointment as head counsellor of the Apollo cabin, he wished he weren't there.

Nico rose from the bed and began paving around as soon as Will left. He wrung his hands nervously on his pant legs. Honestly, Nico didn't know why he was doing this. Since he left the bronze jar, he has felt anxious and jittery for no particular reason. It was almost like a natural reflex, not because there was some impending storm or imminent death coming. It was... like his second nature. His heart skipped a beat. He sure didn't want such an of habit as his second nature. For all he knew, perhaps he was some mutating creature.

There was a faint click at the for that Nico almost missed. Nico immediately leapt onto the bed and pulled the sheets over his head and retreated to his hole of misery, leaving Will too vex and worry about it.

Nico heard a sigh- not one in his head, a literal one- and he knew it came from Will. Nico suppressed a soft snort. What was there left to sigh about? Everyone found him a burden anyway. Not like it was anything new. His heavy eyelids threatened to shut as he could barely contain a yawn.

He blinked his eyes and rubbed them as subtly as he could without disturbing the covers. The little sleep he had gotten that night was coming back to haunt him. Nico always only allow himself short naps as the deeper he got into sleep, the worse his nightmares got. Maybe...Nico felt the darkness close in little by little. Maybe this time...Nico curled into a small ball.

Maybe this time it'd be different.  
_

Will awoke to screams, short and ragged, breathless gasps. Will leapt to his feet. He decided he had better get there fast or the whole camp would be rudely awaken from their slumber. Tiptoeing, he made his way to the door and opened it with a soft click as the mechanism popped. Turning around after he left, he shut the door, as silent as a falling leaf. Once out, he bolted toward the infirmary. He had a hunch he knew who it was.

He threw the door open, no longer caring about waking the demigods. Who cared if they were shaken awake from their nightmares? Bleary-eyed demigods caught a glimpse of the speeding silhouette of a boy as Will shot past them. Based on Will's knowledge, if a demigod was trapped in a dream, he was prone to think it was reality. And he might start fighting imaginary demons. Or he could just, in both the memory and reality, if he was desperate enough, kill himself. Knowing Nico, Will knew it wasn't ruled out as a possibility.

Kayla walked toward the door, fatigue obvious in her step. Will didn't have time for this. No matter how annoying Nico was, he would not just let him rot to death or die in his sleep. Will flung open the door and found Nico in a heap on the ground. Percy and Annabeth were huddled around him, asking him how he was. Nico's screams had softened, and his eyes were open, clearly awake now.

"Hey hey Nico." Percy whispered. "You okay there dude?" Nico didn't respond, and Will guessed it was due to reluctance and his inability to verbally convey his message. Even in this situation, Percy and Annabeth still did not dare touch Nico, and Will felt this irksome feeling in his body. But perhaps Percy knew better.

Will was aware that if he was so much as within a foot's range of Nico, he would snap. Will sighed. Maybe it really was for the greater good that no one touched Nico right now; there was no telling what he'd do.

After about a few minutes of silence, Nico finally got his calm. He looked to Percy.

"You can leave now. I'm fine. Serious." Nico said between shuddering short intakes of breath. Annabeth was adamant.

"No, Nico. You can't push us away now. You know you need help. Why don't you just accep-"

"Leave. Please." Nico whispered. "Just leave me alone."

Nico pushed his knees to his chest and folded his arms across his chest, cupping them at the elbows. He buried his head into the warm fabric of his shirt, and his whole body shook silently with fear and from the way he was shivering, Will could tell he was recalling the terrifying memory. It was usually easy for Will to distinguish between crying and fearful shaking and it was no different this time.

Annabeth and Percy looked on stiffly, neither comfortable with the situation. They stood up and brushed off their pants, and they finally noticed Will. Waving awkwardly, they bid goodbye to Nico and pulled Will aside.

Once out of earshot, Annabeth pushed Will against the wall and pinned him. "How has Nico been?"

Will didn't respond. The way she acted did not at all link to her actions. Shrugging, Will replied.

"I don't know what he is usually like, but he is annoying, like no shit." Will didn't know if he had said the wrong thing, and he didn't get a chance to find out.

"Hey Will. You are needed at the big house. Sounds pretty fun, from what i overheard." Will looked between Austin and the duo. Only, Percy and Annabeth were already gone. Smiling, he thanked Austin for the information and for a moment, he wondered what he was doing up at this hour. He turned toward the sky and found the sun rising steadily. Will sighed. No wonder. Apollo's children woke with the sun without fail. Kayla was probably going to come look for him and ask about where he was.

Will bolted off in the direction of the big house. He was sure that once he left Nico to his own devices, he would go back to his cabin and say that "three days are over" or something along those lines. Will didn't care. It was the truth, and it wasn't like he particularly liked Nico's company. If anything, it was a nuisance to have him around. But Will couldn't deny the pity he had felt for the son of Hades when he broke down like that. Perhaps...in the process of disliking Nico, he had neglected that Nico, too, had feelings, and was sensitive, like most people were.

Before he knew it, he had reached the big house. He chose to push his thoughts aside for now, pretend Nico never existed, and take in the good news.

If it was good news, that is.


	6. Chapter 6

Will stared grimly at the empty bed from outside the room. It was a mess. The bedspread was all over the place. The pillows were on the floor, looking like they had been beaten up. Will frowned and rubbed his forehead.

It was funny how such a fantastic piece of news was followed by this. Will sighed. Strolling over slowly into the room, he bent, waist-up, to pick up the fallen sheets. As he did so, he found some blood on them and awkwardly stuffed them into the laundry basket. He didn't exactly want much to do with a woman's business. But as he thought about it, Nico was not a girl and he was the last person here. Will snorted unconsciously. Oh no way in hell was Nico a girl. He was too...male.

Will chuckled as he continued to stuff the sheets into the basket.  
_

Nico packed his things into his bag. He needed to get away now. He couldn't be here. It brought too many memories, too much pain. When he finally had a choice, he made the wrong one; the choice to stay. Nico bit his lip and put in a folded black shirt. He set it down, and took that moment to really consider what he was going to do. He shifted his weight from his feet to his hand and rested himself onto the bed.

While it wasn't because of Will that he was leaving, it was because of the past. The past he had had in camp, the crush, the gender identity, the life of a demigod. His life was especially stressful, having to deal with secrets and problems with selfhood every single day. He couldn't even speak a full sentence without anyone giving him a funny look and whispering to each other about how the emo boy was talking. He stood up and his joint popped. Stretching out his hands, he hoisted the bag over his shoulder and was about to enter a shadow when a shimmering image popped up in front of him.

"Nico!" Hazel called. "What are you doing?" Nico anxiously put a hand on his lips to hush her as he looked around for anyone who could've been looking.

"Hazel!" Nico whisper-yelled. "What are you doing here?"

From the way the image shimmered and glowed, Nico could make out Hazel's frown.

"What do you mean? Percy and Annabeth just IM-ed me. They said you were...unstable." Hazel measured her words carefully.

Nico scowled. "I'm not unstable." Nico paused and waited for the chiding that was to follow. "I'm leaving camp."

Hazel looked like she'd just been slapped. "You...what?" Hazel asked, uncomfortably quiet. Nico shifted stiffly.

"I was going to IM you when i reached Singapore." Hazel crossed her arms.

"Oh yeah?" Nico glared at her.

"Yes i was going to." Nico inhaled deeply. There was a reason why he only wanted to call Hazel when he reached-if he was already there and he asked, Hazel would have not had a choice to allow him to do what he was going to ask her permission for. "So...i was wondering if you still had that house in Singapore. You know the one Dad gave you as a gift for saving olympus from Gaia?"

Hazel narrowed her eyes to slits. "I do have it...are you asking to crash there?"

Nico shrugged. "I do indeed would like to crash there...and i was wondering if you wanted to come with me. High school life and all?" Nico added the last part as an incentive to persuade Hazel into lending him the house and he also didn't mind Hazel being with him. He was sure Hazel would like a vacation after the past few rough weeks and he also wanted to spend some time with her, bonding and doing what siblings usually did in the mortal world.

After a prolonged period of silence, Hazel spoke up, consideration still evident in her voice. "Okay...you can have the house first." Nico grinned on the inside. Then Hazel continued, "And I'm bringing Frank with me and i also have to ask Reyna first if it's possible."

Nico smiled at her through the fading image and whispered, "Just say it's a favour from Nico. She won't say no." Hazel smiled back, one of her charming ones.

"The irresistible Nico charm?" Hazel laughed under her breath and smacked her head. "I think I just fell for it."

Nico wrinkled his nose and shrugged. Softening her gaze, Hazel waved goodbye.

"Love you, Nico." Nico blushed and sliced through the rainbow.

"You too, Hazel."  
_

Will sat down as the mechanism kicked in and began to wash the sheets. It made a loud robotic whirring noise, courtesy of the Hephaestus cabin. Will sighed. Valdez was the most prized child of Hephaestus, and yet, what a death. Will pressed his lips together in a thin line. He bent over the mechanism and checked how long it'd take.

Five minutes. Finding nothing better to do, he decided to go to his cabin and stuffed necessities into the duffel bag. Chiron had arranged for him to to return to school as a reward for being such a helpful demigod at camp. When asked, Chiron had said that Will was the only one ever to be offered this chance, but of course, it wasn't that simple. He was there to also scout for potential demigods. Because of the new shrines and all, there were many new spaces for campers to reside in and hence, Will could bring back as many demigods as he could find without worrying about them cramming into tiny places.

Will had been overjoyed. To have a holiday right after dealing with this devil of an angel. Now, he was just packing his things. Will thought about it and realised he hadn't asked Chiron where he was going. Choosing not to disturb the centaur, he whipped out the crumpled paper from his pocket and beamed. It was as if Chiron had known where he wanted to go.

He looked at it more closely. If he was right, the place, or motel, he was staying at was a stone's throw away from where his mother resided. Naomi had decided that when Will left for camp as a year-round camper, too, would move to her dream country to live in.

Will allowed a little grin. It was going to be the first time he saw his mum in six years, considering that he had left for camp when he was nine. How much his mother must have grown, and how much he missed her. Nobody knew this, but Will always kept a little faded picture of him and her on the day of the monster attack that separated them both.

Will was fond of those memories, and was pleased to be able to relive them again, and create so many more new ones. He fingered the photograph in his pocket. It was old and the colours had lost their vibrance, but he loved it nonetheless. He cracked his knuckles and got to work.  
_

Nico landed with a thump on the dusty marble floor. He groaned. It must've been ages since the last time Hades visited here. The 'gift', for all he and Hazel knew, could've been the house where one of his few mortal women used to live in.

He blinked away the black spots that clouded his vision and checked to see if his hands were anywhere near fading. He knew that if Will heard of this, he'd give him the disapproving look and send him a crooked frown. He sighed; in spite of being held captive at the infirmary for three days, considering that that current day was counted as a day, he had obviously not improved much. Nico snorted. He might as well have not gone at all. Except for the stitching though; that was lit.

He pulled the hem of his shirt up slightly and felt around the wound. Nothing, no feeling of stitches or lines, except for the already existing scars, that is. He released his grip and moved toward the semicircular sofa he spotted. It was draped in black cloth, but Nico could feel the quality of the material beneath it. It must have been extremely expensive, for the entire sofa was wrapped with pure beige leather. He removed the cloth, sat down and rubbed the armrests. It was cold and new, as if untouched for a whole full millennia.

He licked his dry lips and crossed his legs on the object below his feet. Wriggling his toes, he clipped the first and second toe together It was a little coffee table, a shade darker than the sofa itself. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he lifted them off the table, onto the floor. Tentatively, he caressed the table. It was cool to the touch. Nico smiled. It seemed like coming here was the right choice after all.

If his memory wasn't failing him, he knew that Singapore was known for its food and green environment. Nico put a finger to his lips, deep in thought. Perhaps when Hazel came with Frank, he'd go with them to explore the place.

He clutched on to his bag at his side and opened it slowly. He had packed everything he had, but it was barely much. His two favourite deep grey hoodies, a black jacket, a pair of black shorts that reached just above his in addition to his current pair. He looked down at his feet. He also had his black slippers and boots. He sighed. That was pretty much all he had.

Being a demigod, he barely had time to change or take a long, proper bath without a whole lot of monsters breaking down the door. Even on those days there weren't attacks, Nico would have just washed them and dried them as quickly.

He leaned back against the sofa and thought out his plans for the next few weeks. Firstly, he'd have to go register for a high school so it wouldn't be suspicious to both the outside eye and to Hazel and Frank. He drew his eyebrows together. He was beginning to wish he had thought up a different excuse, but well...it wasn't too bad to get back a normal life, hanging out with friends, potentially having a love life.

Nico cringed. What an odd thought. He loosened up his joints. It was about time he went to scout for a school that would take him in. He was likely to have to do a placement test, then wait to be accepted. It was around the end of February, so term breaks would soon start. He would then enroll in the second term.

He took a long look around the room. There was still so much to be cleaned and dusted, and he'd have to get accessories and arrange the house in a way the three inhabitants would like. Then, he'd have to allocate rooms, and get necessities, repaint them rooms, customise, blah blah blah. Nico's head hurt just at the thought of it. This was going to take a long time. Perhaps he should just remove the covers and get everyday items then wait for Hazel and Frank to come before doing the rest. After all, he wasn't them and he wouldn't know what they'd like.

Settling that as that for now, he stood up and got to work.  
_

Will nodded his head and shook off his hood. The woman smiled and pointed her thumb toward the counter at the far end. Thanking her, he pulled his hood back on and shuffled over there, his chin tucked into his shirt. He slid into the line and he felt his jeans pocket. He sighed. Thank the Gods no one had trued to pickpocket him. Despite not being a child of the big three, his sunny personality and bright looks always seemed to attract monsters. Or girls, for that matter.

The queue inched forward slightly, so slowly Will hadn't noticed at first.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" The woman manning the counter asked. Will inclined his head such that his eyes could be seen.

"Yes. I would like to enter the waiting area for passengers taking the plane to Singapore." The woman pressed her lips together and held her hand out. They were long and slender, perfectly manicured.

"Your name please?" Will jerked his head, not quite registering the information. It clicked in his mind that she was asking for the tucket and h8s passport. He had gotten a fake ID with his real name but a false identification number.

Will handed it over, his sandy hair falling over his eyes. Without warning, the lady reached a hand out to brush it away. Will felt the heat rising to his cheeks but the lady just lifted a corner of her lips.

"I needed to see your face fully to make sure it's you. Officer duties you know." She gushed sheepishly. "And um, my name's Lucy." Will tilted his head in confusion, wondering what that was supposed to connotate.

"Oh. Hi Lucy, the flight number is J2948." Lucy's eyes fell but she kept her grin. She handed back the plane ticket and Will got a whiff if the strong lavender perfume she put on.

"Uh thanks…" Will muttered as he read the neat and ladylike handwriting that filled the ticket.

"Call me sometime yea?" She winked. Will supposed it was to lure him to her, but it didn't give him the feeling like when Percy swept his hair to the side or when Jason lifted his shirt to wipe off the sweat, his abs in full view.

He shook his head and stood under the security device. Walking in without waiting for the all-clear sign, he pushed his luggage, looking around at the many colourful shops that lined the walls of the mall. It had been ages since he'd seen this, and it was just gorgeous.

He made his way to one of the jewelry shops. There were many diamond rings and gold necklaces. He was sure his mum would love to have one. Wrenching himself away from the duffel bag behind him, he turned to dig inside it for any money.

Finding a wad of cash, he counted it and found there was only a thousand. Considering school fees and daily expenses, he did not have enough to spare. With a heavy-hearted sigh, Will pulled the string of the bag and it closed.

A female behind him tapped his shoulder and Will turned, thinking his cover had finally been blown. Rather, he found himself staring back at a young female.

"Does this look pretty?" She held up a silver bracelet in front of his face.

Not knowing what to say, Will answered, "Uh...yeah sure. Looks fancy." The girl beamed and left. Taking a deep breath, Will thought for a moment how weird that was.

Not long after, however, the girl returned and pressed a package into his hand, shooting him a sly coy smile. Thanking her awkwardly, he raised his eyebrows at the gift.

He heard a voiceover call for the passengers of his flight. He put aside the present and fingered the little sheet with his mum's address on.

He was so excited for this.


	7. Chapter 7

Nico placed the last of the tomatoes into the fridge door and shut it. Now that the house management was done, he had to go look for a school. Or maybe he should just lie to Hazel and say that none of the schools wanted him. Given that he hadn't had much education, the only subjects he knew he could actually do were English and Humanities. And that was only two of the five subjects. Nico sighed but decided he had better go look instead of staying home and fretting.

Spying a dark corner at the room, he opened the fridge door and took out an apple. He had a feeling he'd throw it up later but he only ate it now because he needed his sugar levels up to ensure at least an even chance of survival without looking like a glass sheet.

He took the last bite and his stomach lurched. He swallowed it down. Shutting his eyes and praying for a safe journey, he took a deep breath and leapt in.

As he stepped out, he already knew what was of him. He inhaled a whiff of rotting cabbages and old socks. He could feel his face grow hot and he turned around to puke into the dustbin. Oh gods, he shouldn't have eaten that. No way. That was actually horrible.

He glimpsed at his hands. Fading, but solidifying faster than usual. He exhaled. Must have been the energy from the apple. It was better to eat, he supposed, but he won't go further than that.

He looked around. People filled the streets, several students in uniforms were talking about school. Glass panes densely populated the area. He spotted a sign in the far distance. In addition to his growing need for glasses, his dyslexia was adding on to the difficulty.

Plucking up the little courage he had and the will to live on, he awkwardly cleared his throat behind a stranger. He turned around, almond eyes stared back at him. Nico couldn't help but think what a gorgeous boy he had met on accident.

"Hello." The man greeted. Nico composed himself, and in the best italian accent he had, he replied.

"Good afternoon sir. Where is this?" Nico asked. The man gave him a confused look.

"You don't know where you are? Oh dear, what a pity. A lost child in an unknown environment..." Nico pursed his lips and clenched his fists. This man was treating him like a total dumbass, a pitiful loner, in search of a friend and someone to confide in. Nico, in an instant, abandoned the thought of impressing the man.

"Long story. Could you just answer?" The man shrugged.

"Bedok mall. Did you come from the mrt (what locals call the subway. Stands for Mass Rapid Transit)?" Nico ignored the question and walked away, as he did not want to drag the conversation on any longer and also partially because he didn't know what an 'mrt' was.

Stuffing his hands into his jeans, he strolled about the mall, head down, looking as inconspicuous as possible. Blending in was his forte, and he sure did put it into good use. He ambled past branded bags, not batting an eyelid when there were jackets that sold at hundreds of dollars. He patted the money bag in his pocket. He had stolen it from Hades' palace when leaving, and knew that Hades probably won't mind either, considering that he had thousands of these.

A young girl in front of him blocked his path and stuffed an advertisement in his face.

"Hi sir. Would you like to try our new product? It is-" Nico slunk under her arm and curtly shook his head. He did not intend to be noticed, much less spoken too. Pushing up the right sleeve of his hoodie, he checked the date and time.

It was three in the afternoon, twenty-eight of February. Peering over a passing teenage girl, he caught a glimpse of the timetable and zoomed in on when was the term break. It was one week, stretching from fourth of March to eleventh of March. He rolled his eyes. That meant he had absolutely no time to rest at all.

In his mind were the endless number of things he had to do to get accepted. Entrance test, interview, placement test, then came buying textbooks, workbooks, the uniform, blah blah blah. Nico hung his head lower. So many things to do, yet so little time. He curled his lips to form a dissatisfied frown.

He better start scouting for a school.  
_  
"Hi, William. I have been expecting you."

"You have?" Will asked. The lady smiled warmly.

"Yes i have. Your uncle, the one in the wheelchair, he said you were here to continue your studies." Will took that as Chiron. The mist was taking effect on her. He shook her hand.

"Ah now I remember. Nice to meet you, Ms…"

The lady returned the handshake. "Mrs Gill. " Will nodded.

Mrs Gill sat down. "So i see you are rather academically inclined? Your entrance test has gotten you a B+ in all the tests, except...your second language?"

Will shook his head. "I don't have one, but if it is required, I would like either latin or greek. It's easier for my dyslexia to handle."

Mrs Gill didn't say anything for a moment. Finally, she spoke. "Okay, William-"

"It's just Will please." She shrugged.

"Will. Please tell me what made you want to join this school?" Will offered a warm smile. He had this prepared beforehand.

"I feel it is good to learn in this conducive environment. TJ is also within walking distance from my home so…"

The lady smiled. "Of course dear. Ooh? You have your luggage? I'm sorry but we don't offer students housing here."

Will shook his head. "No i just came back from a...vacation. I lived in New York for a while prior to this." Will quickly lied.

She gave him an unsure look of uncertainty. Shaking her head, Mrs Gill looked through the papers once more. "That's all for now, Will. You shall soon receive a call from me to come for the last test. I have many students coming here this year at this time. Right after you, there is a boy coming here, and there were two others before you. Be ready for competition Will dear. Best of luck."

Will pushed the chair back as he rose, rolling back his shoulders.

"Thank you, Mrs Gill. Have a nice day."  
_  
It was only a few seconds into the conversation and Nico was beginning to get restless.

"Good afternoon...Nico is it?" The interviewer asked.

Nico nodded. "Yes ma'am."

The interviewer smiled. "Call me Miss or Mrs Gill." Nico forced another strained lip smile.

Mrs Gill picked up the sheet of paper in front of her. "Okay. Based on your entrance test, you are...an extremist."

Nico tilted his head. Mrs Gill added, "That is to say that you are, well very good in certain subjects but as for others, in your case, math and science. And I see that you haven't indicated your second language."

Nico took this as a question. "Um...this is such as i don't quote understand the concept of a second language."

Mrs Gill raised her eyebrows. "I take it that you're not local?"

Nico sighed. "I came as a transfer student from New York."

She nodded, a look crossing her face too fast for Nico to read. "In Singapore, the second language is the language you take as an alternative to english. Doesn't New York have this too?"

Nico wrung his sweating palms under the table. "Erm...i didn't exactly go to school when i was there." He made a hand gesture. "My dad er...he wasn't very supportive of the schools there, hence I'm here in Singapore to study."

Her eyes widened a barely. "I...uh...let's carry on." She took up the stack of papers and arranged them properly, probably to stall for time and also to ease the awkwardness.

She leaned forward. "Tell me, dear, why your english and humanities scored so highly but your...other subjects...not so much."

Nico fidgeted. "I speak english at home so there's practice i guess. As for humanities, my stepmother is kind of an expert at that. I'm not that close to her though."

Mrs Gill shifted uncomfortably. "That's good to hear you value learning. Child do me a favour of explaining why you suddenly would like to take up studying again and choosing this place."

Nico wanted to tell her that his sister was definitely going to force him into it anyway. Instead, he replied, "I think it's always good to learn more and learning shapes one's character one top of quenching the thirst for knowledge. As for why i chose TJ, well...i heard from lo locals that TJ is a good school."

Mrs Gill seemed pleased at the answer. "Nico dear, i think you are true TJ material and have decided to consider you for a student here, but i can't confirm your spot. Hmm… let me call the other students who have asked to come here. I will arrange for a date where we can have a placement test. I suggest you do your best seeing that you're up for tough competition. "

Nico nodded. Mrs Gill suddenly recalled something. "Oh yes, could you choose your second language? I know you may noy have one but-"

"Italian please. And uh...may i know who I'm going up against? For the spot in this school, and how many places are there here?"

Mrs Gill glowed. "There is a boy, also a transfer student from New York, a girl, young and beautiful, but I urge you not to fall for her. Not too good as a competitor. And there is another boy from the top school in England coming here to study. As you can see, there is really a competition, considering there are only two spots."

Nico pressed his lips together to form a grim line. It was going to be hard. "Thank you so much for having me, Mrs Gill."

The lady smiled kindly. "Always a pleasure to meet someone so polite and valued. A question, why Italian?"

Nico returned a faint stiff smile. "My mother tongue. Italian, i mean. Might as well. Is it...unacceptable?"

She shook her head. "Just curious, Nico. Just curious."

Nico looked at her a while after, his face unreadable. Motioning towards the door, he asked, "If there's nothing else…"

Mrs Gill shook her head once more and Nico pushed open the exit to freedom.  
_  
"Hazel! You're here!" Noco crushed her in a bone crunching hug. Hazel looked around at the room. It was true beauty, from the furniture to the little elements.

"You bought stuff?" She asked. Nico nodded.

"Got some money from dad." Her smile faltered. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"He willingly gave it or you just took it?" Nico waved away the question.

"The end defines the means, Haze." Nico muttered. She raised her eyebrows and let it drop.

"Did you find a school?" Nico nodded. He looked to Frank and greeted him shortly.

"I'll put the thing's down upstairs." Frank excused himself and gave her a peck on the cheek. She blushed and even under the dim lighting and dark skin, it was obvious. But Nico didn't point it out, especially not when Hazel didn't tease him for being gay.

"I found a school. Co-ed so you can join too. But obviously you won't be at my level cos you're younger and my level doesn't have space. As for Frank…"

Hazel hugged him tight and ignored his squirming. She hadn't had the chance to do so as Frank was here and it'd have been really awkward for Nico. Nico flinched and squirmed, and Hazel could feel his heartbeat picking up speed.

"Hey hey hey, Hazel. You alright?" His voice was shaking, trembling with genuine fear and discomfort. Hazel nodded into his chest. It was stiff and hard, nothing layering the bones. She looked at him in concern, one that he brushed off again saying he was fine despite the betrayal of his voice.

"If you're alright could you please release me I'm going to choke." Hazel ignored the traces discomfort in his tone and didn't let him out of her arm's embrace.

"Frank said he didn't want to go to school and wanted to stay home and look after the house. Claimed that his power was easy to find out." Hazel made a weird gesture.

Nico shrugged as she pulled back, shuddering.

She beamed. "So you're okay with hugs now?" Nico vigorously shook his head. "Only because you're my sister and because i thought you were unwell or something. Otherwise, please don't touch me. It was scary. Real scary and i hated it. A lot."

Hazel smirked. She leaned forward, arms wide open for an embrace. Nico recoiled and curled himself into a ball. He was literally shaking. He pulled his knees up to his chest.

Hazel put her hands up."Woah brother. Why the sudden reaction?" Nico shook his head and buried it into his collar.

"Please Hazel, i wasn't kidding. Every touch reminds me of the twins. Just...not now Hazel. Not now."

Hazel drew back, disappointed. So it seemed the trip to the infirmary didn't go as well as she had hoped, neither had it helped much. She sighed.

"I'm sorry, Hazel. It's just not my thing." Nico mumbled.

Hazel reached a hand out to pat his back, then stopped midway. Even such an everyday thing could make Nico shiver. Disheartening. She let her hand drop back to their sides, not noticing the look of pain and hurt that crossed Nico's face.

"It's okay. We each have our own demons." She said.

Nico picked his head up. "Yeah well it seems like i have way more than the average demigod." Hazel didn't respond. She had nothing to say to that. No words of comfort that wouldn't have been a lie. No soothing hugs that wouldn't trigger Nico.

Nico continued, easily changing the subject. "About school...you need to go for an entrance test. And for house management, i was wondering which room you would want."

Hazel raised her eyebrows. "You haven't chosen yours yet? I mean, well, I have no preference. You choose first."

Nico was emotionless. "I have a preference and if you really don't mind, I have put my stuff in there already."

Hazel wanted to ruffle his hair but restrained herself just in time. She inwardly slapped herself for being so incapable of helping Nico overcome his touching phobia.

With false cheerfulness in her voice, she said, "Awesome. I'll go to Frank and unpack my stuff first yeah? Then I'll go to the school you went to and try out. Hopefully they'll accept me."

Nico stretched his lips in an attempt to smile. "Just use the etiquette and mannerisms from the 1930s and it should be fine. I did it and the interviewer liked it. Excluding the kissing hands part. That's just ugh."

Hazel grinned, hiding the pain behind it, and got up to unpack her luggage.

But a lone tear slid down her cheek.


	8. Chapter 8

Nico picked his feet off the ground and walked into the room. He pushed open the door. There was only the female there. No one else. He checked his watch. He was on time, so that meant the others were late. The female to his side stole a glance at him and nodded approvingly.

"Hi. I'm Omotayo." She held out her hand for a handshake, one which Nico didn't take.

Without looking up, he muttered. "Nico." The girl, Omotayo, let her hand drop and slid closer to Nico.

"You don't sound local. Where are you from?" Nico ignored her and inched away from her. Just then, the door clicked open.

Thank the Gods, Nico thought, then regretted it. His brows furrowed.

Forgetting about the girl, Nico stood up. "What are you doing here? Come to torture me?"

Will looked equally surprised. "That's what I should be asking you. Don't you have duties in camp?"

Before Nico could retort, Omotayo pounced at Will. "Oh my God! Is that you? Do you like the bracelet?"

Will studied her for a second then groaned. "Holy Hera. Why are you here too?" The girl shrugged.

"Same as you. Duh." Will slumped against the wall. Nico couldn't help but pity him. At least one of them was going to be eliminated. Omotayo obviously. All looks and no brains.

Once again, the door opened. It was Mrs Gill.

"Nice to meet you again, Mrs Gill." Nico greeted politely and the two behind him snickered. He was undeterred, however.

Nico eyed the bag at her side. It was large and bulky. He offered a hand. "Allow me, Miss."

Mrs Gill let Nico take the bag and put it on the table. After a hasty greeting from the other two, Mrs Gill spoke.

"Good for all three of you, the boy from England withdrew so two of three of you will have a place here."

She proceeded to hand out the test sheets but just as she was about to start the timer, Nico asked her, "A day or two ago, a girl came here to try for a grade below me. Did she…"

Mrs Gill gave him a weary look. "I'm afraid she didn't get in. Like you, she was an extremist, but…" she sighed.

Nico's heart dropped. Making a split second decision, he bargained. He knew it wasn't exactly the best idea to be so assertive when he hadn't yet secured a place but for Hazel, he'd do pretty much anything.

"Mrs Gill? If I get in, could you accept her too?" The lady nodded.

"I could see to that, but nothing is confirmed." She said in a clipped voice. Nico wanted to argue more but he knew his limits. Besides, after shadow-travelling here, he was weak and wasn't in the best condition. His fingers, if one looked closely enough, were still wispy and shadowy, little traces of darkness curling at the translucent fingertips.

Mrs Gill said no more and started the timer. The three set to work.  
_

"Omotayo, you passed all the tests, but it was just scraping through. Nonetheless, good job." Mrs Gill put Omotayo's test sheet behind the stack of papers.

"Will. Your math and science have done very well, your humanities is decent but your english… just scraped through." Will barely took in the information. He was wondering what Nico would do if he didn't get in. Sure, he despised him, but he wasn't heartless.

"Nico. " Will snapped his attention back to the woman. "Your humanities and english...full marks. First time in TJ history. Honestly. But your math and science...i can't say the same for that. You know what i mean don't you? You're a bright child, and i hope you understand."

Will bit his lips. Nico looked like he was going to be reduced to tears, but the Nico he knew never cried. Even that day during the infirmary wasn't counted. That was only him shaking with fear. Well, he could've been crying, but from the way his body shook, Will was pretty sure it was just fear.

Nico looked so crushed. He did the last thing Will thought he'd ever do. He went down on his knees. "Please, Mrs Gill, please. I'm begging you. Please let me and my sister in. I...I can't leave her in another school. Please...please…"

Nico begged Mrs Gill, pulling at the hem of her dress as if to prove his point. Will saw her gaze soften. This was going to be the part where she would say okay and all those comforting words.

And she said it, Nico was pleased, but although Will had an idea who was going through, he asked to ease the tension, "Sorry to interrupt but who is going through?"

Mrs Gill breathed. "Nico and Will. Nico, I trust that you'd ask Will for help as and when you need it?" Nico looked offended, but nodded grudgingly. He had his boundaries placed very clearly in front of him already.

Mrs Gill turned to Will. "And Will, please do get Nico to help your english. And humanities. Mutual help okay boys?"

The boys sighed and gave their assent. Totally unwitting about what she'd just done Mrs Gill exited the room, leaving the girl to wail about the unfairness of it all and the boys to stare daggers at each other.  
_

Nico lightly tugged at Hazel's shirt. "Haze! Psst! It's the last day of the term break and we haven't bought our stuff. School starts tomorrow. Haze!" Hazel groaned and grunted. Reluctantly, she pulled herself up and nudged Frank next to her in bed.

"Babe. I'm gonna go out okay?" Frank, in his groggy state, must have heard wrongly.

He shot straight up. "You're gonna come out?" He asked incredulously. Hazel wrinkled her nose and hit Frank's shoulder.

"Go out. I'm gonna go out." Frank nodded, satisfied, and lay back down to sleep. Hazel shook her head at her boyfriend and pecked his cheek. Looking toward Nico, she shooed him out.

"Uh i need to change." Nico flushed a bright red then shifted his gaze to Frank.

"And he's there?" Hazel rolled her eyes.

"He's asleep Nico, unless you want to stay here?" Nico made a face.

"What the actual fuck Hazel? No I'll go. I'm downstairs yeah?" Shaking his head and slapping his face, he wondered how perverse he sounded. He opened the fridge door and there was only an apple. The thought of apples just grossed him out.

He decided not to eat. He heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and he shut the door.

"Eaten yet Nico?" Nico ignored her and opened the door. He didn't want to lie to her but yet didn't want to tell the truth. Hazel sighed, probably having guessed what the meaning was behind the wordless response and exited the house.  
_

They walked down the street and turned a bend. Nico spotted a familiar pair of bright yellow shoes and he froze. Then a boy walked out of the door. He spied Hazel walking on without him. He yanked her back. She yelped slightly but Nico clamped her mouth shut with a leaf. He shushed her and pointed toward the door. She pried away the leaf and fixed her eyes on the door.

"Isn't that Will?" Nico clamped her mouth shut again and made sure Will had gone away before he released her.

"What's wrong with you? Gods…" Hazel grumbled.

Nico glared at her. "He's in the school as ours Hazel!" Hazel raised an eyebrow.

Nico sighed. "Look. I'd rather not meet him as much as possible okay?" Hazel shrugged.

They walked on to the shop. Nico, wanting to refrain from any unnecessary social contact, kept quiet as he browsed through the uniforms. Thank the Gods there were black ones! He fished out the smallest sized one for males and proceeded to the counter. He paid for his along with Hazel's, which was white because she was a different year. Together, they left the shop and returned home.

But this time, they weren't as lucky. Will was there, watering his plants. He looked up just as they strode past.

"Hey Hazel and...Nico." Nico grunted. Will rolled his eyes.

"When are you tutoring me?" Will asked. Nico didn't even think about the answer.

"Thursday after school." Then, Nico pulled Hazel away.

Hazel wriggled out of his grip. "What was that about?"

"Teacher wants me to tutor Will and he tutor me." He frowned. "Just cos our weaker subjects are the other's strong subjects."

He turned to face Hazel. "I helped you get into this school. Seize the opportunity to study while this lasts yeah?" Hazel nodded.

"Thanks Nicki." Hazel whispered. Nico scrunched his face up.

"Nicki?" Hazel grinned.

"Yep. It's your new pet name by me." Hazel piped.

Nico scowled. "Don't you dare, or I'm telling dad to get Thanatos to bring me down there."

Hazel frowned and rolled her eyes. "Just a joke brother. A joke."

Nico shrugged and they ambled down the street back home, side by side.  
_

"Mum…" Will tugged at his mum's sleeves.

"I don't need you to fetch me to school everyday...it makes me look like such a baby." Mrs. Solace didn't even so much as bat an eyelid. Taking the whisk, she whipped the eggs.

"But you are my baby, Will love." She pointed out, not looking up.

"Yes but my school doesn't need to know that…" he wrinkled his nose. Sighing, she finally turned and tapped the tip of his nose affectionately.

"Oh but they do." She said. Will stuck his tongue out childishly.

"Mum…" Will tried.

"I was toying with you dear." She smiled. She studied his hair fondly. "So big-boy William, what would you like your mother do?" Will folded his arms as though deep in thought.

"Let me take the school bus. Make friends you know." Naomi raised her eyebrows.

"Make friends." She straightened his collar and smoothed it out.

"Alright then. But didn't you say there was this fellow kind of yours also in school?" Will nodded.

"Yea but that is only one person out of the entire school's student population. He can't be the only person on the bus." Naomi didn't rebut it and sent Will on his way.

He picked his bag along the way to the door and turned as he opened it.

"Bye mum." Naomi stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"Bye babe. Have a good day at school." Will scoffed.

"I hope. As good as a day can be with that-"

"Will. Please. He's just a boy." Not wanting to upset his mother, he let it slide.

"Right. Bye." He closed the door after him and locked it, leaving his mum to shake her head at his immaturity.  
_

Hazel stood beside Nico, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Does the bus always take this long?" Nico shrugged.

"Not like I've taken it before." He checked his watch. The bus was already ten minutes late. He had seen it earlier as it turned in to Will's home.

"Why don't we just shadow-travel?" Nico said passingly. Hazel punched Nico, no longer caring about not touching him.

"Excuse me, sir, but if you don't remember, the last time you did that, you landed yourself in the infirmary." Nico rolled his eyes but didn't insist. Insisting never got him anywhere.

He heard the roaring of an engine in the far distance. He hoisted his bag further up.

"Bus is here, Haze." Nico said over the noise of the vehicle. Hazel nodded and rolled her ankles on the ground.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Nico asked, hearing more than watching her ankles pop. Hazel shook her head and Nico winced as the popping sounds loudened.

The bus pulled up in front of them and Nico watched the doors open, feeling the cold air brush against his cheek. He shivered. This was the exact same feeling as in the Underworld. He swallowed and nudged Hazel up the bus. When Hazel didn't, the bus driver snapped.

"Hey! Are ya gonna come up o not?" Nico glared at him and to his credit, the driver flinched.

In his best calmest voice, he breathed, "Hazel, go up the bus."

Hazel seemed to have shaken out of her momentary daze and blinked her eyes, then making her way up the vehicle. Nico sent another calculating stare at the driver as he climbed up, not faltering even when he tripped over a step up.

Craning his neck, he searched for Hazel's seat. She waved at him, and Nico could easily make out the tanned hand. He shuffled down the aisle, ignoring everyone's tentative eyes shifting their gazes toward him. Then he came to Will.

William Solace. Nico narrowed his eyes. If he wasn't wrong, Will was the reason the bus came so late. Nico had seen the bus turn the bend and stop outside Will's front porch, but it had been followed by a stretch of fifteen minutes before the bus came to Nico and Hazel's stop. Considering the three to five minutes spent on travelling, this left ten minutes waiting for Will.

"Take really long to get ready huh?" Nico muttered, so soft Will didn't catch it. Not like Nico intended for him to hear anyway.

It was these little lines that Nico said that everyone didn't catch, and the few times they heard it, they considered it a miracle that he could speak.

It wasn't even his problem that everyone was mildly deaf, but yet the tables had turned making him seem like a mute boy.

He slid into the seat beside Hazel. He plugged in his earphones and turned the volume up to full. He liked to be in his own world, no disturbances or interruptions. Nothing.

He liked the nothingness of it all. It was one of the many things people didn't understand. What was wrong with wanting to spend some time with themselves and not get caught up with being an entertainer or being so social one lost himself? What was wrong with buying a bag for oneself even if it was very expensive? What was wrong with indulging oneself in a life of luxury?

People were constantly telling him to be himself, but he had been so caught up trying to please everyone and being the good child of Hades everyone expected him to be. So much such that he didn't even know who he was anymore.

If he himself didn't know who he was anymore, who could know? Nico sighed and tried to turn the volume up even higher. When it failed, he just gave up.

Nowadays, he found his expectations way lower than before. He didn't care if he couldn't do this or that. He didn't bother to hide his dull self. He didn't want to continue trying until he could make it. He didn't want anything. That one day, on Argo II when Leo asked him to at least eat something, he had wanted to tell Leo, that whatever he did-no, whatever everyone did-they were never going to get back the same ten-year-old innocent child again.

And even as he thought about it, tears pricked his eyes. He would never be the same lovable child. His bangs would never fall over his eyes in the same adorable cute way they used to. He would never pester anyone and cling on to someone like they meant the world to him. He had learnt not to place his happiness on a person.

And that was why he put his happiness in music. In art. He had learnt to do poetry, to one day have a shot at being a poet who could freely expose his feelings yet no one really noticing. He learnt to draw, not just on paper with a pencil, but on his arms, with proper blades, and carved out beautiful drawings, ingrained them so he would remember. He dedicated drawing after drawing, poem after poem, to Bianca, the one he loved so dear and left him for her own happiness.

Or just death. Nico pulled his hoodie over his eyes, his jacket falling limply on the two shoulders of his. He wanted to cry. He wanted to yell about the unfairness of the world. He wanted to scream about how Bianca didn't keep her promise. He wanted to punch the wall because here he was, being once again offered a hope that maybe with this new sister, everything would be alright. But it was always just a hope, always just a thought, always just something he wanted to do but couldn't.

He brushed his eyelashes and let his hair fall over his eyes, perhaps to cover the pits of hurt inside them.

"Hey Nico, you okay?" Hazel mummered. Nico couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye.

"Yea...fine." Nico mumbled back, lying through his teeth. Hazel must have sensed that something was wrong, but she didn't point it out. This was one of the things no one talked about. It was always an awkward topic that Nico would avoid.

The bus came to an abrupt stop. Nico stood up against the will of his legs and ran down the steps. The sunlight hit him like a bullet, blinding his vision. He didn't even know where he was going. He stopped.

"Nico! Where are you going?" Hazel appeared at his side, breathless. Nico felt his chest close in on him, his heart pumping adrenaline at the speed of light.

"Can't...breathe…" Nico gasped. Hazel looked alarmed. She shook him.

"Hey hey. Don't die on me. Hey!" Hazel caught the sleeve of his jacket and felt her fingers wrap around the bones that sculpted Nico's lanky arms. Nico wanted to wrench it away, but he didn't. Instead, he regained his balance.

"Let me help you Nico. It hurts me to see you like that." Hazel pleaded. Nico looked into her eyes, his vision blotched with tainted filters of black and grey beginning to clear up. He shook his head.

"You can't help me." Nico whispered, more for himself rather than Hazel.

"If even I can't help myself," Nico looked out to the far distance. "If even I can't help myself, " he repeated, and looked to Hazel, fear building up behind those gold irises.

"Then who can?"


	9. Chapter 9

Nico pushed himself out of Hazel's heartbroken grasp. He could never bear to see her disappointed, always that same expression. Disappointed because he, once again, had failed to live up to their expectations. Disappointed because she had thought better of him. Disappointed because he didn't meet the standards. Disappointed because he wasn't like them, able to be a normal child with powers they could easily hide.

He didn't want to see the hurt look on Hazel's face. It was identical to that of Bianca's when she left. It was a tell tale sign that the bars for him to meet had lowered, that they were coming to accept that Nico would forever be the same asshole of a person. That he wouldn't and couldn't change for the better.

He felt students from behind gave him a wide berth as they passed him. Alone, again. All except Will.

"Hey. Class is that way." Will offered his help. Nico wanted to nod and be submissive to this inevitable information. Instead, not wanting to betray his emotions, Nico snapped.

"You think I'm an idiot? Sorry but no." Nico walked off, head in the air, allowing the heat to evaporate the tears that began to fall. He hated to cry; it made him seem weak. He knew he was, but he didn't need everyone to know that. He vaguely guessed the path to the classroom and sat down at the back of the room, blending into the shadows. Trailing him, Will rolled his eyes. Nico could hear him muttering about Nico being overly stubborn, but hey, whose business was it that he was stubborn?

Nico stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept his head lowered, watching the last of his tears leave his eyes as they stained his black hoodie. The scissors was still there, along with his sword which he had effectively turned to shadows. It had weakened him, but he required his defence. The earplugs still in his ears, he didn't notice when students slowly began to stream into the classroom. Not having anywhere else to sit, Will took the chair next to him.

" 'ssup." Will attempted at being friendly. Nico didn't hear him and ignored him, tapping his foot to the blasting music. From the corner of his eye, Nico could see a figure shaking his head. Frowning, he turned.

"Don't you have anywhere else to sit?" Will shook his head. Luckily for Nico, Will did not pester him and instead, hummed a soft hymn under his breath. The teacher opened the door. Instinctively, Nico paused the music in his ears, and his surroundings seemed uncomfortably empty without it.

"Hello class. Today we have two new students who will be joining us. Like you, they would have to take exams, so," Mrs Gill looked to the boys. "So I hope you didn't think that you could miss them just because you are transfer students." As a reply, Nico shrugged his shoulders and discreetly resumed the music in his ears.

He didn't hear much after that, but he was well aware of the stares sent his way. Sighing, he paused the music and removed an earplug.

"What?" He asked. Mrs Gill gave a condensing look.

"In Singapore, we don't allow our students to listen to music while in class. I know this switch must be hard for the both of you but this is no excuse." She interlocked her fingers and placed both palms together. "Alright. Your math teacher, who happens to be Mr Chia, will be coming in in a few moments. Oh look, there he is." She turned to the door and it opened, revealing a messy black-haired man. He was about half a foot taller than Will.

"Hello class. Wait a while as i take attendance. You may do whatever you like." Fearing that this was one of those teachers who'd say one thing and do another, Nico hid the earplugs in his bag and stuffed them into the last pocket. At one point, Mr Chia looked up and pushed the bridge of his glasses up.

"Nico di Angelo?" Cringing at the way the word rolled off his tongue, Nico raised his arm a little off the table. The teacher craned his neck and nodded at him. His inky black hair was swept to the side of his head, unbothered by the wind blowing. Nico let his hand drop back down. He rested his head on his palms and listened with half an ear as the teacher droned on and on about the lesson. It just so happened to be about algebra, the one thing in math that he was exceptionally horrible at.

"Your homework for today is just two pages of the workbook. Not too much?" Nico, upon sensing that the lesson was almost over, snapped out of the daze he had been in for the lesson and rubbed his eyes.

"Nico? Do you understand what I'm saying? The homework due tomorrow is two pages of the workbook." The teacher sent a look in his direction. Nico returned it with one of blankness. With a sigh, Mr Chia said, "Class dismissed."

There was a hoot of agreement aa the class immediately pulled seats around the new students. A particularly bright-eyed girl pushed her way to the front. Her thick curly blonde locks momentarily brushed against Nico's bare skin and he shuddered.

"Oh. My. God. I totally need to know your numbers. I'm going to have this party next wednesday after school and it is going to be so good. It is really expensive and slots are limited. If you wanna come, just give me a shout. See ya." The girl blew a kiss at the two of them and while Will gave an embarrassed forced smile, Nico just blatantly ignored her.

There was more chatter after that, but Nico mostly just answered with nods or shakes, sometimes if they were lucky, a word or two. The next teacher came in. From the way she held her books so dearly in her arm to the way she gently rested them onto the table, Nico could easily guess that she was an english teacher. After the quick greeting, Nico sat back down and zoned out.

But he was not so lucky this time.

"Nico di Angelo? What did i just say?" Nico almost panicked. He gave the board a glance and Nico could barely make out the words 'poem'.

"Um…" Nico started. "About the…basics of poetry?" She gave a small grin.

"Yes yes indeed." She said. "Now could you tell us the basics of poetry?" Nico relaxed visibly. Poetry was something he did in his free time and over the course of a few months, he had naturally become better and better at it.

"Well…" Nico launched into a detailed description about poetry and the foundation. He even recalled the little bit he had read before about the history of poetry and the first poet.

By the end of his lengthy explanation, Ms Shirley, the teacher, was clearly amazed by his phenomenal knowledge of this topic. Seizing the opportunity, she gave the entire class a test on poems.

"Now class, i know you all have only began learning poetry today, with the exception of Nico," she muttered the last part under her breath, but Nico caught it and he glowed with a newfound pride.

"The purpose of this test is really just to assess how much you know about poetry. You will be writing a poem on any topic you want, but a guideline would be say...about a memorable experience. Of course, if you have another topic you think you'd rather do, there's no stopping you." Nico guessed the last part was for him. And for the first time in a long while, he offered a genuine smile. Small, but genuine.

Then he briefly wondered why Will was so terrible at english if language was an art and that his father was literally the god of it. Nico shrugged to himself; it was probably one of those things where gods' children didn't get all their traits.

Ms Shirley flicked her wrist and checked the time. "Alright. Do start now."

Nico began to write, then paused. He tentatively raised a hand, well aware of the attention he was drawing to himself.

"I have um...dyslexia so English doesn't work for me. I mean, i can speak it fine but writing no." Ms Shirley nodded graciously.

"Just write in the language that you are most comfortable in." Nico sighed with relief and let the words flow onto his paper the way a graceful ballerina would dance. The scratchy texture of his pen against the paper didn't bother him, as long as the ink came out smoothly.

He had chosen to write about Bianca. About her love for him and what a moron he had been to take it for granted.

Ma Shirley rang the bell at the front of the classroom. The students stopped and Nico could great many audible breaths being released. Sensing that the teacher probably didn't understand Italian, he personally went up to her and pressed it into his hand. She gave him an amused expression.

"Oh no no Nico. I was thinking since none of us here could speak Italian, you may as well present it to us then explaining on the spot. Makes my job easier yes? " Powerless, Nico could do nothing but give a miserable nod of the head.

Standing in front of the class, he held his paper. Ms Shirley signalled for him to start and as he did, he forgot about the world around him.

(I have no idea whether this is good but here goes)

"So this is the poem translated to english. This is for my sister by the way.

Once i had a sister

Whose smile went a long way

She laughed and she loved me

I thought she was here to stay

I took her for granted

And brought her misery

Pain, heartache and disappointment

Yet her life always revolved around me

So when she left to join the others

I sulked and frowned all day

But then when she didn't come back

I realised the folly of my ways

I realised what a selfish brother i had been

Never caring for her like i should have

Instead i gave her grief and burdens

And that led to her death

I blamed myself for that tragedy

Again and again

Everyone told me it would pass

But that never eased the pain

I once had a sister

Who i thought was here to stay

So now while i can still make it right for this one

I won't treat her the her the same way"

Nico took a deep breath, frowning. Somehow, it seemed really odd to present such a personal poem in front of the class.

"So like...um...yea this is it. Thanks." He hastily shuffled back to his seat and left the teacher's side.

Clearing her throat, she feigned calm. "Well that was...certainly one of the most touching love poems I've ever heard. And coming from a fifteen year-old. I will have to ponder this...Class dismissed. Go for your break."

Nico walked out of the classroom, but just as he was about to set his for down on the concrete ground, he was yanked back by a force. He suppressed a scream.

He whipped around. "Hey brother. Our breaks on Mondays happen to be at the same time so it seems. Have you made any new friends? "

Not even the least bit embarrassed, Nico shook his head. Rather, Nico was a little mad at Hazel for being so abrupt. But then he remembered his poem. He would not be such a brat to Hazel.

"Friends aren't for me. I very much prefer a life of solidarity." Hazel rolled her eyes. Nico returned it with a question of his own, knowing Hazel was likely to have had a more eventful day with her being all cheery and fun. Looking out to the far distance, Nico asked Hazel,

"Did you make friends?" Hazel nodded her head excitedly. She began to tell Nico all about Louise and Hilda and how they were planning a birthday party over at Nico and Hazel's home. Nico was aghast but he decided that he'd just go out on the day need friends came over. As simple as that.

They strode side by side to the dining area and they took a seat.

"Hi sorry we already choped this seat." A person with many others from behind him spoke, holding food and drinks in their hands. Nico tilted his head.

"Choped?" The girl smiled.

"That means we 'booked' this seat beforehand. A Singaporean term." She waved her hand vaguely. "Not local I'm guessing?"

Nico nodded his head and took Hazel's sleeve. He pulled her away.

"Haze...c'mon. This seat's taken you twat." Hazel stuck her tongue out at him but left the seat without further protest.

"Hey!" The same girl from behind them called. She smirked. "You two are a cute couple."

Nico lifted a corner of his lips, his signature expression that made girls swoon. "She isn't my girlfriend."

Nico felt a tiny smile tug at his lips. "She's my sister."

And he had never said that so proudly since Bianca left.


	10. Chapter 10

When Nico reached the classroom, he could already feel the change in atmosphere. There was this burning curiosity thick in the air.

"Oh god Nico. Where did you learn to write such great poetry?" A classmate asked. Nico shrugged. It was oddly nice to be the centre of attention for once, even if it were only for something academic.

"I write a lot I suppose." Nico answered awkwardly. Nico could see Will's raised eyebrows in the background. He turned.

"What?" Will set his Greek book down on the table.

"Never knew you had time for that. Especially since you have so many duties you left behind…" Will muttered. Nico felt himself grow hot under his collar but kept his cool.

The science teacher barged in on that scene, his hair an absolute disarray. Water was dripping from his fingers as he reached for the switch, fiddling with the exposed wires. Will coughed.

"Sir, you shouldn't touch wires even when your hands are dry, all the more you shouldn't when they are wet. It could easily send an electrocution through your system." Will said, his expression betraying his uncertainty on exactly how capable this teacher was considering what a foolish thing he'd done. The teacher beamed.

"Good job! I don't remember seeing you before so I'm assuming you are the new transfer student. This is how I typically introduce new topics. Your name is…" Will sighed with relief. Thank the gods this wasnt one of those dumb know-nothing teachers. Nico groaned. Why was it that he had to have science right after English? It downright dampened his mood, but he had been the one who made the choice to come here anyway.

"William Solace, but Will is just fine." Will jerked his head in a quick nod. The teacher nodded and wiped his hands on the cloth on the table. Glancing over at Will ask he sat down, Nico saw his spine straighten as the lesson started.

"Please draw the diagram on the board. It will help you when you revise for your exams." Will looked as though he had just gotten a rare diamond. He quickly set down to work. Nico meanwhile, watched Will as he drew on the piece of paper. The lead ran smoothly on the surface and Will's hands smudged the marking slightly. Will frowned and reached for the eraser. He rubbed the paper carefully, not dashing to make even so much as a little crease on the paper.

By the time he was done, Nico observed that the graphite had dirtied his fingertips, and that the white eraser had turned an ugly shade of grey. Will turned sharply toward Nico.

"Why haven't you done it?" Nico turned a faint pink.

"Um…" Will raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know how to do it?" Nico nodded testily. He didn't want Will to take advantage of this weakness and use it against him.

With an exasperated sigh, Will took the pencil in Nico's hand. Nico noticed how his white pencil became tainted with marks of grey as it touched Will's hands.

"To draw the electric circuit, you need to…" Will launched into a detailed explanation of the world of electricity. Nico was barely taking in any information.

Will snapped his fingers in front of Nico. He rolled his eyes to Nico's displeasure.

"I'm guessing you weren't listening?" Without even waiting for an answer, Will carried on. "Anyway, Mrs Gill wanted us to tutor each other so if you're alright with it, i don't mind going over to your home today."

Nico frowned. He wouldn't have wanted anybody over at his house if he could help it. But he didn't have much of a choice now did he? Glaring at Will, Nico crossed his arms and leaned again by the backrest of the chair.

"Whatever." Was his only reply. For the rest of the lesson, Nico spaced out and didn't realise when the teacher left. Great, he thought, now he'd have a guest at his home. An unwelcome guest at that. Shaking his head, he waited for the next teacher to come in, then came mother tongue, or Italian, for him. But Nico being the wilful child he was, decided to play truant.

Right after the humanities teacher left, Nico snuck off and headed to his home. Hazel didn't have this subject so she was at home, waiting for Nico.

"Hey Nicki, uh i mean, Nico. Don't you have Italian today?" Somewhere behind a wall, Nico heard Frank asking along the lines of the same question.

"Yeah i do." And he dropped the topic. Hazel was likely to berate him about it if he told her that he was playing truant. "Well… Will is coming over today because of the tutoring thing so like… you know…" Nico struggled to find the appropriate wording. Without looking up from her food, Hazel nodded knowingly.

"Got it brother." Giving a small smile that Hazel failed to catch, he turned to go up to his room.

About an hour or two later, Nico heard the doorbell ring and he ripped the earplugs right out of his ears. The sudden change in noise caused Nico to stumble slightly, tripping over the steps down the stairs.

He flung open the door. Breathless, he gasped,

"Why are you here already?" Will studied Nico from head to toe. His meet black hair struck up at all angles, his clothes looked like they were hastily pulled on.

"Oh hi to you to." Will said. Nico walked into the house. Nico turned to stare at Will.

"Well, are you coming?" Will hesitantly planted a foot down into Nico's home. Nico shut the door after him and gestured for Will to follow him. He brought him to the study room on the second floor. They passed by Hazel and Frank playing with each other's hair. They gave a wave as Will passed them by and he stiffly returned it.

Nico sat Will down in the chair.

"What do you wanna do?" Nico asked Will.

"Um… how about you take out that science paper?" Nico reached into his bag and fumbled about. He straightened up.

"I, uh, may have left it in school under the desk." Will facepalmed.

"Hopeless." Nico sank into his chair, swinging his legs over the armrest.

"Ya think i don't know?" Nico mumbled. Apparently, Will didn't catch it for he carried on as though he hadn't said anything. Will took out the paper he had drawn on and handed it to Nico. He flipped the paper over to the blank side.

"Show me what you know." Feeling rather self conscious, Nico picked up the pencil and drew a bulb and wires. When he was done, Will picked it up and examined it closely.

"Woah that's pretty realistic. But in science, we don't go for realistic. We go for a more simplistic version." Will picked up the right sleeve of his jacket and directed it in the way to draw it. Nico wrenched it away.

"I'm a left hander." Nico stated plainly. Will walked over to the other side and did the same thing, only leading his left hand now. Nico felt the heat of sunshine emitted from Will's grip on his sleeve.

Will scrunched his nose up at the end product. For a second, he forgot about Nico being against touching and he gripped Nico's hand to draw it again.

"It's like this." Will started as he drew. With his grip, the drawing was definitely more clear and less messy. Nico panicked and held a tighter hold on the pencil, his knuckles turning white. This grip was too familiar. Too similar to that of the twins.

"There. Done." Will said. Not noticing Nico's sheet white complexion, he went on to say about how to ensure the accuracy of the diagram. Nico, after a while, snapped out of his daze and shook himself. He reminded himself that touching was a normal thing. But he couldn't wrap his head around it.

Halfway through Will's explanation, Nico abruptly stood up and threw Will's bag back at him. Will caught it on surprise. Nico hastily pushed him down the stairs while Will stumbled down it, gripping the handrails so as to not fall over.

Nico brought him to the doorway. Just as Nico was about to shut the door in his face, Will held it open.

"Hey Nico, you know something? You aren't that bad." Apparently he sill failed to notice what was going on. Nico slammed the door shut as soon as Will said his piece and and left him to go home on his own.

Will took his bicycle as he left. He mounted it and pushed forward. The seat was so long it was enough to fit two people. It was his favourite shade of yellow. Like dandelions.

He put his thoughts together. Perhaps the only reason Nico was actually so annoying in the infirmary was because he had just fought a war. For a good ten minutes, Will spent his time regretting being so easily angered by Nico's reluctance. Nico really hadn't deserved it.

Plus, he was so weak and frail. When Will had held his wrists, Will's fingers easily closed in on the bony circumference of them. It was so thin will didn't even have to try to feel the veins under the jacket. They just protruded. He was sure if he wrapped his fingers around Nico's wrist loosely, he could join his pinky and thumb together.

Will also noticed the dark rings under his eyes. It was as clear as day, yet as dark as night. Will pursed his lips. He had really been quite mean to Nico in the infirmary previously. But he couldn't turn back the clock.

Before he knew it, he had reached his home. Then it all fell into place.

He had touched Nico! Oh gods… no wonder Nico had been in such a rush to get rid of Will.

He decided to apologise to Nico the following day. But he didn't know that the damage would have already been done.  
_  
Nico fumbled about blindly in the bathroom. Where was the scissors...the sword…the blade…

Nico didn't want to turn on the light. He feared Hazel would come and see. He slipped on the stone floor and used the sink to break his fall. He held in the tears that threatened to spill as he heard the sickening sound of his weak joints smashing into each other. Pain shot up his arm.

He winced as he pushed himself away from the mirror. That mirror. He hated it. He snarled, making loud high pitched sounds like that of a crazed animal. He clawed at the mirror, his tears finally surfacing enough to fall. Once he started, he couldn't stop. He felt the mirror crack under the force of his fist colliding with the brittle glass. Now, he traced the lines down his reflection, his trembling hands shaking harder when he came to his eyes. Those eyes.

He brought his fist back and punched the mirror again. He drew back, blood dripping from his knuckles like water from a tap. It pooled on the grounds below him, as if mocking him, saying the best he'd ever get was never past this. This hell of a life.

He peeled a shard of glass from the shattered mirror. He pressed it deep into his palms, not noticing the cut he had inflicted on himself. He raised his hand, breathing heavily. Breaths came out shirt and ragged, shallow.

Panting, he lunged at the glass door in the shower. It cracked, but it didn't break. He picked up another shard and flung it at the door. Still nothing. A new spark of hate ignited.

He was determined to tear it down. Nico dropped the shard, letting it make a deep incision in his thigh. He bent down and reached for the hose. He brought it behind him, and whacked the door at full force. It collided with a loud shattering of glass. But Nico wasn't done. He brought it back again, and hit the door. It had already been reduced to smithereens, but Nico didn't want to stop.

He liked this euphoria. He rode on the clouds, high up in the sky, his happiness based purely on his self harm. He turned the hose to face himself. He held it in the left hand, his dominant hand, and beat his right arm. It was red, and the skin had split open. Red raw flesh fully exposed. He aimed for his legs, and if anything, they got heightened amount of torture. He could feel his pants seeping in blood. His grip tightened.

Breaths were barely even breaths anymore. His vision were tainted white and red. The floor below him felt elastic, uneven and bumpy, solidifying here and there. It felt surreal. His senses heightened, and he could hear the sound of his heartbeat reverberating in his brain, echoing through his ears. He must have fallen because suddenly, the ground below him was no longer the ground, but the air.

The air around his head felt hardened, like a solid. Like a cutting blade riding into his skin.

The last thing he heard was the sound of a deep low voice that said,

"Son. Papa is here."


	11. Chapter 11

Hades paced along the aisle between his son and the wall. He was deep in thought. What should he do? How should he help him? Hades reached for the wilted flower at Nico's bedside and hurled it at the window. The glass shattered at the impact.

His eyes bled red. He wanted to shake Nico awake and ask him why he had done what he had done. His fingers curled into fists and they shook. Hades had long suspected that Nico was doing this kind of physical abuse to his own body.

He was so full of this anger and this other feeling he had never thought he could feel so strongly.

He felt so conflicted between wanting to slap his son awake and asking him what had gone wrong and wanting to embrace him in a warm hug and ensure him everything was alright. He wanted to be able to make his son strong, so that he didn't feel the need to do this. It truly broke his heart.

Nico stirred slightly and in a flash, Hades was buy his side, firing questions tens at a time. He felt his forehead and Nico must have been really weakened for he didn't try to move away from his cold touch. He also gently pressed a cup into his hand, telling him to drink up.

As he passed the glass, Nico's hands barely even wrapped around the cup without trembling. Even when he finally got his hand around it, it slipped from his grasp. Defeated, Nico let his hand drop and turned his head away in shame. Hades' sighed. He waved his arm and the remnants of the glass fragments disappeared.

Hades wasn't one for loving words, but he tried his best.

"Son…i don't understand...Why?" Nico didn't answer.

Hades was discouraged. "I know you probably don't want to tell me now so instead, Papa has decided to let you stay here for a while while you recuperate. Don't worry. This may be triggering but I have put you in a time capsule so when you return to the mortal world, no time would have passed."

Nico nodded in acknowledgement and Hades felt his lips curl into the ghost of a smile. He then blamed himself. He was supposed to be the strict father. The kind of father that wouldn't make an outsider cringe at his words. But he didn't want to be that kind of father.

"If you need me, amore, I'll be at my throne." Hades got up to leave but Nico turned around and grabbed his arm.

Hades could feel the desperation as Nico's fingernails dug into his godly skin. He let his carefully knitted together eyebrows relax into a soft curved line, his gaze mellow.

"I...i was reminded of th...the twins." Nico said in a hoarse whisper. Hades turned around. He sat down on the chair beside Nico and hesitantly took Nico's hands in his.

"It's okay son. Papa is here to go through it with you. Just let it all out." Like a dam that broke, Nico spilled it all out to his father, his voice cracking with hurt and pain.

"I...don't know if you know this but i went to your house in Singapore to escape camp." Hades gave a small sad smile.

"Yes son. I could feel a presence in the home. I was about to go check but since it's just you, then well…" Nico nodded.

"Anyway, after that, I went to register for a school and got accepted in, but then i realised that this boy from camp, Will, also attended it." Hades shot Nico a quick glance.

"Seeing that i was weaker in science, the teacher told Will to tutor me." Hades frowned at that. Why in his own name would Nico need extra enrichment? Hades was rather confident of his children's capabilities. Ignoring the look on Hades' face, Nico carried on.

"So in class, I couldn't do a particular question and Will invited himself over to come tutor me. I was still unable to do it and he just probably forgot about my touching phobia so he gripped my arm to draw the diagram. I kind of freaked out and may have overreacted so I chased him out and…This feeling of fear- no, overwhelming sense of dread and swirling emotions took over me and…I'm ranting aren't i?" Nico looked to Hades. He caught sight of Hades' hands on his but he tried not to take notice of it.

Hades shook his head. "No amore. Carry on." Nico took a deep breath.

"As I was saying, I lost control and started throwing items, using them to hit myself, and i...i used the shards of the broken items to cut and beat myself up. I wanted to punish myself for being so sensitive to such trivial things, for being abnormal.

See? Even now, I'm trying to ignore your hands around mine, trying to understand how hard this is for you too to initiate contact, but it strikes fear. Fear that cuts deep into my heart. Fear that I may never be able to rid myself of."

Hades felt a tinge of discomfort when Nico mentioned how awkward it was for him to hold his hands. It pained him. However, instead of drawing his hands back, he leaned forward to embrace him in a tight hug and peppered small featherlike kisses on his forehead.

"Oh child…I'm so sorry you had to go through all this alone. I wish i was there to be by your side, and trust me, I will do all I can to be your normal father. I will do my best to be at home, waiting for you to return, and I'd try to go to your school and pick you up. I...i…" Hades was at a loss for words, but Nico barely noticed.

"Be at home? Zeus would kill you. For me. I'm… I'm not worth it." Hades pushed away from the hug.

"Son. The house is mine, and my presence had been inhabiting it for the past millennia so Zeus should have gotten over it. I can't be there all the time, but I'll try." Nico nodded still rather uncertain.

Hades firmly placed his arms on Nico's shoulders, and his heart tore when he realised the true extent of Nico's malnutrition.

"Then you must promise me to try to rid yourself of this habit." Nico looked unsure, but Hades put a finger to his lips.

"You can do it. I believe in you Nico." Nico's previous uncertainty seemed to have faded away for he did not argue. Hades stood up to leave, then he turned around again.

"Remember son, despite the lack of my presence, you must know-I insist on this-i do love you. No matter how rarely I say it. Call me when you need me. I'll be here before you know it." Hades have Nico a sad smile and left the room.  
_

It had been approximately three days in the time capsule, and Nico had finally sort of gotten rid of the touching thing, but it still freaked him out sometimes when Hades tapped his shoulder. He still felt like cutting more often than not but he could tell Hades was really trying his best to help him. He didn't want to disappoint his father, not right after he did so much for him.

He didn't want to come across as an ungrateful and unappreciative child. Even Persephone had made him food and brought him drinks. They'd patched up, with help from Cerberus but it was mostly because they had put aside their differences.

He could not bear to look at his arms. He didn't want to have to see the cause of everybody's disappointment so openly.

Hades barged into his room without warning and Nico did not have time to even blink.

"Zeus… he's found you. He can't see you here. He'll definitely tell the gods about you and… you'll be so humiliated. Nico, I really want you to stay, but for your safety, I need to send you to the surface. I wish I could spend more time with you, but well… know that the doors are always open for you."

Hades sighed and struck his sword into the ground. It didn't make a sound, just a snug incision where the sword fit in perfectly. Hades muttered a soft prayer for Nico's safety, and the next thing he knew, he was sent through a dark long tunnel.

This was nothing like shadow-travelling. He did not feel anything akin to that of being queasy or suffocated. Instead, it felt like he was lying in a bed, floating about, the sounds of ticking clocks echoing. The space around him was akin to a large dome, plenty of space. He propelled himself toward a light source in the shape of a doorway. It was like a tornado, sucking him in. He didn't have the strength to push himself away and instead, followed the pull of the force.

He was thrown out of the vacuum, and for the first time since the start of the ride through the capsule, he felt sick. He was sure he had turned green and when he looked into the mirror, it confirmed his suspicions. He forced down three rising bile in his throat.

He found that he was in the same bathroom he had last been when Hades took him. The bathroom had been restored to its former 'glory', but there was an extra note on the counter. Nico picked it up.

Son,

As you read this, I'm sure you've returned. I have managed to put back the bathroom and piece it back together. I must say, that was some great handiwork.

Anyway, although I have managed to restore the bathroom, i couldn't reverse the effects of what you'd done to yourself. Please, I beg of you, don't so this. You don't have to. You have a family now, a family that loves you. You aren't alone.

Love,  
Hades

Nico shook his head and folded the note, tucking it into his jeans pocket. As Hades had said, Nico could feel the large gash at his thigh. He had not gotten proper medical care in the Underworld. He had been lying down, sitting, doing anything but standing and walking about. He shifted his leg over to the leg where the cut was, and he yelped.

The pain was like fire, hot flames licking at his meat. He shifted his weight back onto the other leg. He washed his hands, careful to scrub away all traces of blood from his hands.

"Brother?" Hazel's voice was heard. Nico frowned and yelled.

"Just a minute!" Hazel was unresponsive and Nico suspected she had gone to one of the other bathrooms in the house. He pumped a load of soap onto his hands and rubbed at it. He pressed harder and harder, his skin peeling off slightly in the process. He stopped as the cold liquid-like texture stung his skin. He ran his hand under the water, the stinging sensation numbed.

At last, he pushed his sleeves back down and dried them on the hand towel. Checking everything as he left, he finally, after what seemed like ages, pushed open the door.

It was like he had last left it; pristine and regal-like. He kept his footsteps light as he tiptoed into his room. He shut it as fast as he opened it. Once alone, he threw himself onto the bed, nose first. From the corner of his eye, he spied the piece of homework he and Will had been working on before he was chased out.

He shoved himself off the bed and collapsed into the swivel chair. Using his legs, he kicked off the bedframe and led the chair toward the paper. Even after three day of rest, the work did not look any easier. He sighed. He had better get it done. The teacher probably expected it to be completed anyway.

He reached for the circular object at the corner of his desk. During his stay in the capsule, Hades had filled him in on certain important matters.

Due to Hades' aura lingering in the house, monsters never dared to attack them or even lurk around the neighbourhood. This was particularly important as this would give him a reason to get what mortals called a cellphone. In addition, Hades also had placed a circular object in each of the houses in the neighbourhood. It was a communication device, invisible to the mortals' eyes. In other words, that only meant Nico and Hazel and Frank could receive messages via it. And Will too.

Nico pressed the button in the centre. It was surrounded by four other buttons and Nico had to be careful not to push the wrong one. Hades had emphasised that if he pressed any one of the four outer buttons, this would send an alarm to all demigods in the country and it would be all but a scene of chaos.

There was a long monotone hum and for a second, Nico wondered if he had pressed the wrong one. Before long, however, he heard a familiar voice.  
_

"What is this...Hey mom! Come and see! Huh? You can't see it? What do you mean you can't see it? It's so obvious. It's a circular objec-"

"Will."

"Yes, i'm not kidding! It is here, right here! It's cold, and made of celestial gold! Wait...you aren't a clear-sighted mortal...oh...no wonder you can't see it."

Nico heard some sort of scratching and clawing sounds at the other end of the line. It was like somebody was tryin to wrench the device away from Will's grasp. It suddenly died down.

"Will?"

"Oh gods! It knows my name! Wait wait wait, mom...let me try something." Will supposedly cleared his throat.

"Hello may i know who is this speaking?"

Nico pushed his bangs to cover his eyes. Even despite not being beside Will at that moment, the second-hand embarrassment was unbearable.

"This. Is. Nico." Nico heard a sound, like an impact. Nico rolled his eyes, guessing that Will had dropped the device in shock.

"Pick the device up you dumbass." Nico called.

"Um...Will? I suppose this is one of your demigod talks. I'll just go to...prepare dinner." Mrs Solace excused herself from the awkward (to her, soundless one-sided) conversation.

"You are Nico?" Nico nodded, then realised Will couldn't have seen it.

"Yeah." He replied instead.

"Okay so...why are you...uh...conversing with me?" Nico felt like punching a brick wall.

"This device is something my dad made. Safe communication device for demigods. And what is wrong with your english? Obviously I'm talking to you."

"There's a reason why Mrs Gill asked you to tutor me." Nico suppressed a chuckle.

"Okay. Sure."

"Thursday after school right?" Nico nodded, then again realised Will couldn't see it.

"Yes. Today is Monday for your information." Nico could almost imagine Will rolling his eyes.

"I may suck at english but i do have common sense you know?"

There was silence for a few moments.

Then Nico spoke. "Anyway...it was probably wrong of me to chase you out that day-uh, i mean earlier. It was wrong of me to chase you out earlier."

"Figured."

Nico sighed. "What did you expect though? I already showed you i was extremely averse to touching. Even if i've toned down now."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Kinda got the touching thing covered. Over and done with. For the most part. I'd still rather you not touch me if not required though. You don't know when i will have some great reaction."

"Sure."

"Sure."

There was silence again, but this time, Will picked up the conversation.

"Have you figured out how to do the science?" Nico flushed a deep red.

"Uh...no."

"Okay i'm coming over."

"Wait what? No. It's okay, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then."

"Okay."

Nico pondered over it for a while.

"This must be one of the longest conversations I've had with anyone."

Will chuckled at the other end of the line. "You know something? You're kinda funny."

Nico tilted his head. "Sure."

"Sure."

"..."

"Bye then."

"Hm." Nico pressed the button again and the connection died down. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

Gods. It was time to do the science.


	12. Chapter 12

He let Hazel board the bus first. It was wednesday, and the two of them had just woken up. The previous day, Will had spent an agonising four hours trying to teach Nico to properly draw the diagram. And the worst part was, Nico still had not yet learned how to draw it as accurately or cleanly as Will had hoped for. But little progress was always still progress.

He glared at the driver as he scrutinized them from head to toe. Nico was wearing a black hoodie over his uniform and his olive green pants (part of the uniform) seemed to blend in with his skin tone. Hazel, meanwhile, was wearing a warm yellow holographic jacket with the words 'GUCCI' imprinted in white at the back. Her shoes were a pair of yellow-streaked Adidas. She looked like the rising sun at the horizon.

The driver scowled at Nico as he held his stare. The driver broke away first and harshly whispered for them to hurry up. As soon as Nico too the last step up, the doors shut behind him and the vehicle surged forward. Nico instinctively reached out to stable his sister, who had fallen back slightly. Nico cursed under his breath.

If only the driver had gone to Tartarus and suffered the effects of his curses like Annabeth had. Instead, the driver carried on, speeding up and slowing down as and when the traffic sped up. Nico hurriedly directed Hazel to the seat on the right and sat her down, then followed after her.

He plugged an earbud into his ear, letting the other dangle. This day was not much better than the others. The driver had taken an instant disliking to Nico and his sister simply because one seemed too aloof for his liking while the other was way too chatty. Nico could tell as much. The way the driver showed it was in such plain sight even a third-grader could tell.

After a few more lurches and abrupt stops, they finally reached the school. It had been two days since the incident with Hades and after that, Nico had not yet cut. Not yet. He had finally come to terms with the fact that touching would never stop making him cringe, but Hazel had helped him through it. As much as she could.

Giving Hazel a chaste kiss on her forehead, Nico let her leave for her class. Their classes almost never ended the same time, with the exception of Tuesdays, which was the day before. Nico had pretty much avoided all Italian classes, not so much because he didn't like the language, but because he preferred to spend the time on other more important business, like staying at home to draw or write random poems.

Will and Nico had become acquaintances after Will's call with him. Nico still found him rather annoying but not to the extent of wanting to kill him. Likewise for Will. Nico never opened up to him, however, about his problems. They were mostly friends only because they relied on each other for academics. Well so far it was just Will helping Nico. The coming day would be Nico's first tutoring session for Will.

Nico's stomach fluttered with a million butterflies at the thought of it. Since Will had come over to Nico's home to tutor him, Nico was expected to do so too. Nico, in all honesty, did not at all want to do that. But Naomi was likely to have been told about it already, and Nico couldn't just ditch Will like that.

Nico gave his hair an exasperated run-through. Why had he even agreed to tutor Will? Why? Just why? He was so regretting it.

Ms Shirley walked in for her lesson, stacks of books in her hands.

"Hi class. Today we'll be learning more about how to write good argumentative essays. This is a graded assignment so i hope you will all take this seriously." Ms Shirley glanced up from her glasses and pushed the bridge down slightly.

"Suzume. Please do stop fidgeting." The girl, Suzume, stared blankly at Ms Shirley and blushed red.

Shaking her head with a deep sigh, Ms Shirley went on to elaborate. "I suppose you have all read the novel for the term 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'?"

The students nodded, some hiding a laugh behind their hands. Only Nico didn't nod. Only Nico and Will.

Ms Shirly turned to the two of them and pushed her glasses back up. "You two may be excused from the assignment."

There were many protests from the class, some shouting heatedly.

"Mrs Gill said they were not excused from exams!" A boy shouted.

"So you meant we read the book for nothing?!"

"Are you biased or what!?"

Ms Shirley desperately waved her hands to calm the class down. It was like a market; Ms Shirley being the fishmonger and the students bargaining for a lower price.

"Alright alright!" The class quietened. "Whew. That was chaotic. Nico and Will? I'm sorry for giving you the wrong instructions but it seems that the class has made their point."

Nico wanted to retort and protest but Will just hit his hand with a pen and nodded at the teacher, whispering for Nico to do the same. Reluctantly, Nico nodded and flung Will's pen back at him.

"Moron." Nico muttered. Will made a face.

Ms Shirley looked pleased by the response, and despite Nico's reluctance to do it, she seemed glad that she had finally appeased the rowdy class. "You will be working in pairs. The person sitting beside you will be your partner."

Nico looked to his left but his other desk partner had already gone, wandering about for his crush. The boy was called Roman, and the only topics he was willing to talk to Nico about was how gorgeous and sweet Suzume looked. Nico had been bored to tears by the limited conversation topics the boy had. Suzume this...Suzume that...For goodness sake just confess already.

Nico turned to his right, finding Will staring back at him.

"Right. 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. Have you read it?" Will rolled his eyes.

"Obviously i have not been spending the past few weeks of my life healing people. Of course i haven't you nerd." Nico growled.

"I am not a nerd Will. I just speak english better than the average person does. No big deal." Will put a hand to his chest.

"No big deal? Sure...sure…" Will went on to annoy Nico with horribly sarcastic expressions.

"Enough Will. We actually do need to read it. I suggest we speed read it now." Will scoffed at Nico's lack of logic.

"We totally do not have dyslexia and totally can read english." Nico opened his mouth to defend himself but found no words. He shut it and pressed his mouth to form a thin line.

"Alright." Nico forced out nicely. "How about we try. Just try. Probably ain't going to work but if we try hard enough maybe we can...decipher it?"

Will scowled but took out his book anyway. Nico followed suit and went through the crumpled worksheets in his bag and his extra changes of clothes. Will must have glanced in for he said,

"Do you plan to skip town or something?" Will remarked.

"No. We just don't know when there will be a monster attack and it's always a good idea to have an additional set of clothes to make us not seem like the ones who 'burned down the school' or 'destroyed school property'. Can't be too careful you know?"

Nico made it sound like a joke, though both of them knew the gravity of the statement he had just made. He passed it off as an everyday event, like it was normal to wake up and go "Oh hi there empousa. You want a cup of tea before I send you back home?"

Nico tore a few papers in the process of looking for the book but eventually found it. He snatched it up before other worksheet could fall on top of it and a note flew out.

He unfolded it and his expression had a rather drastic change.

Hey son,

Well, since you can read this letter, it means my trick worked. I have asked Hecate for a spell that could temporarily 'cure' your dyslexia and yes, this is written in english.

However, i also have to say something. That day when your dear old uncle Zeus came down, he said he needed to discuss something with me, which I found rather odd, but anyway, he said that he'd be staying down here for the next few weeks to talk about it. This also means that i can't be home. I'm sorry son. I tried my best. But sometimes, it just isn't enough. :(

Love,

Hades

Nico sat back in his chair, his new vision stunning him. He took a look around. Everything looked the same, just the words. They were as though they had deciphered themselves.

He let the note drop from his loose grip, into Will's waiting arms. He shook the note in front of Nico, but he barely noticed. His mouth was agape, unsure what to think of it. This was such a sudden change, and it would definitely take a while to get used to.

For one thing, he took ten minutes trying to figure out and remember how english worked. It came back to him in wispy memories, a fleeting recollection.

Nico spotted Will shaking his head and stroking the note gingerly. Nico snatched it back.

"Are you reading this?" Will asked, shock evident in his tone. He totally neglected the look on Nico's face.

"Yes, before you took it without my permission." Nico snapped. Will shrugged and handed it back to Nico, who swiped it out of his hands.

Will looked to Nico and Nico stared back. Nico had to admit he was really quite disturbed by Hades' random act of kindness, and did not wholeheartedly dare to trust this was Hades. Especially not with that sad face and (lovingly) cheesy words. Will tried to get them back on course.

"Oh well...i guess this means we can read the text?" Nico nodded, not too pleased about it. While he was glad that his reading problem had been solved, the fact that he now uad one more task to complete just sent him right back into his miserable self-pitying state.

He flipped open the book and began to read, slowly and choppily. As he had never been able to read english normally, reading was rather difficult to grasp. He was not accustomed to reading words that could actually sound normal and not like russian or portugese.

He read slowly, and he could see Will wasn't much quicker than he. It took nearly an hour to read the uncoded english language of the one chapter he understood. Based on his learning speed, Nico could easily guess that he'd take close to a month to read finish the entire text. However, putting into consideration that he'd pick up the language faster over time, perhaps a week or two would be sufficient. If he found the book interesting enough, maybe he'd read it more and just a week?

Nico glanced up from his book. Ms Shirley was packing up.

"Oh Nico? I know you can't read english but i urge yo-"

Nico waved his hand dismissively, layering a little mist into it.

"Oh no. I can read english just fine. May be slightly slow, but i am literate."

Ms Shirley had a blank look on her face then slapped her forehead forgetfully. Nico felt a twinge of guilt. He knew exactly what it felt like not to know what was happening, and he could remember exactly how confusing it had been for him to adjust to modern day society.

Ms Shirley sent him off to his and she had this bewildered look on her face, and it clung to Nico like a wet towel.

The entire class was staring at them awkwardly, looking between the two of them, looking for an explanation, like they wanted Ms Shirley to small out of her daze. Which she did later on.

"Nico and Will?" Nico's heart beat quicker.

"Yes Ms Shirley?" Nico responded, a negligible tremble in his voice.

"Oh don't look so anxious. I just wanted to tell you to finish the project by mid April. And it should include a brief summary of the plot, with your views on discrimination and prejudice. Preferred to have some insightful views."

A boy from behind raised his hand and Ms Shirley called him out.

"But don't you know? Both Nico and Will can't read or write-"

"Uhm. I'm sorry but i don't understand what you mean because. I. Have. Been. Reading. And. Writing. English. Since. Start. Of. Term." Nico spoke slowly, knowing that the amount of mist he was covering them with was definitely going to use up a lot of energy, and he did not want to have to repeat himself.

Everyone's eyes glazed over, except Will and Nico. Ms Shirley underwent the same mist treatment the class had, and Nico felt rather bad for her. She did not deserve her memory to be half empty.

The fog in their eyes cleared slightly. Everyone seemed more awake.

So awake yet so confused. Bewilderment was written all over their faces. Nico bit his lips and nudged Will who had been gaping open-mouthed, speechless throughout the entire thing.

Ms Shirley hit her temples lightly. She looked up at the class, unsure of what she had planned to say before.

She, however, managed to squeeze out a hasty "class dismissed" before leaving the classroom, the mist fogging up her memory even more as she left.


	13. Chapter 13

Nico rushed out of class the first moment he could. He didn't even blink when the teacher yelled after him to come back. He had never liked the teacher anyway. Besides, the lesson he walked out on was physical education. He had enough exercise during those wars. More than enough.

Nico did not hear anyone following him after a while. It was kind of what he wanted, but he had hoped, rather than expected, that there were other people around, strolling in the school compounds. Other than him, that is. He swallowed. He hated being alone in a public space. This was prime time for the demons to return. He could already hear the faint buzz in his ears, igniting offensive conversations in his ears.

He forced his short legs to pick up speed. But he knew he'd never get quick enough to escape.

"You sadistic child."

"You do love seeing others suffer the same fate, don't you?" Evil laughter cackled, fading in and out of his hearing.

He pulled the hood tucked his chin into the high turtleneck of his shirt. His hair always fell over his eyes such that it perfectly managed to cover the frenzy hiding below them.

He looked around furtively. They sounded so...real.

"You gay coward!"

"Still don't dare come out, do you? Afraid of your feelings?" Suzume's voice rang in his head.

The last time he heard it, it was soft and silky, but this, this was nothing like it. She was a sweet young child, the girl his desk partner liked. Nico, despite being a hopeless love person, could tell Suzume liked him back.

But now he thought, how could Suzume be such a monster? Why was she so mean? So cruel? How had she known the deepest, darkest, thoughts that kept him awake at night?

"Where are you?" Nico half-whispered, hunching his shoulders. "Show yourself!" He spoke, a little louder now.

"Faggot. You disgrace of a son." Hades' chilly voice. It scoffed in the distance.

Nico covered his ears and shut his eyes. He was hyperventilating and he braced himself for the inevitable oncoming panic attack. He could already feel he fingers inching toward the knife in his pocket. He had lost his scissors in the time capsule, and had used a penknife as a replacement.

He could swear he had not intended to bring it. He just felt unsafe without it. Like he was the vulnerable ten-year-old from ages ago. He dug his fingernails into his skin till they drew blood. He slowly slid them out of his pocket and revealed two bloody fists, his nails crusted with stale metallic tasting blood.

His heart picked up speed, the same kind of speed he wished he could move at. He felt faint, dizzy, like his feet could just slip up from under him. He knew these symptoms all too well. His tingling fingers suddenly slowed, and they were heavy. Like a weight clutched onto his limbs. He felt terrified. Terror coursed through his veins at the speed of light, and bright sparks danced in his vision.

There was this chilling sensation climbing up and down his spine, tickling him. He pulled his jacket closer in to his body.

"Please...stop…" Nico pleaded under his breath. His chest could barely heave. It was bound tight like with an iron chain, restricting his every movement. Air only entered his system to be thrown out short and shallow moments later.

He couldn't control himself. His movements; they were short and brief, like he was spasming. His hands, they tempted him to smash everything in sight, from tables to ornaments. Every single thing. He lost control of his mind, but he could move. He didn't know what he was doing, how he was doing it, or why. He faintly recalled lifting his shadowy hand and facing his palm towards his chest, as a dark concentrated beam of shadows hit him.

That was when he really fainted.  
_  
Will heard a commotion outside the field. He cocked his head to the side. What was happening now? It seemed that there had been so much drama on this first week of the term and yet there was no stop to it. He cast a glance at the already infuriated teacher who threw his towel onto the ground and stomped off.

After Nico walked out on the class before he had dismissed them, Mr Ho had been in a very bad mood, taking it all out on the remaining few students. Now that three-fourths of the remaining students had left, Mr Ho probably hadn't found anymore reasons to carry on teaching.

Will sighed. He felt a little sympathy for the teacher. Especially after he had to deal with Nico di Angelo, aka the most difficult patient he had ever come across. He knew what it was like to give so much attention to a certain person, or cluster, in this case, and get back only a few bored and uninterested looks.

Will had the decency to greet the teacher as he left but all he got back was a snarl and a curt nod. Will shrugged. At least he tried.

He jogged over to the crowd of people gathering around what Will guessed from experience, a body. He gently pushed his way to the front and bent over to see who it was. He may not have known many in the school but he could help with his abilities.

But what he saw wasn't something he could just fix. It was a broken soul, a child in need of just perhaps a bit more care. It was Nico, that skinny boy. He tentatively tugged Nico's sleeves and poked his hands when he didn't respond. He even went on to rest a whole warm hand on his face in hopes of shocking him awake.

He was expecting a little "What in the name of my father do you think you're doing" or maybe a "get off me bitch". But he didn't get either, or any variation of it. All he managed to get was his own empty words reflecting back at him. At this, he was alarmed.

He knew shit got real when Nico didn't do any of them. Nico hated contact, and when it wasn't initiated by him, it was like triggering a volcano. But this was new, horrifying. It wasn't natural for Nico to not do anything. Making a split-second decision, he hauled the boy onto his feet and carried him on his back, his thin legs dangling at his sides. He ran. He ran towards the general office. He didn't trust himself to be able to use his powers in such a situation, even more so when everyone was around.

The unnoticeable weight on his back was definitely a cause for concern. What had Nico been eating, or the lack thereof? Will licked his lips, tasting a drop of his sweat as it trickled down his nose.

It seemed like ages, that one-minute sprint. It felt like forever, like he would just collapse on the floor like Nico had, and maybe never wake up. He shook his head, which was a pretty bad idea, considering that he was running and shaking his head would mess up his vision, but he needed to put away those thoughts.

He reached the office, and all he could do was let Nico slide off his back and into his waiting arms. Will gently held the 'parcel' in his arms, his muscles trembling under the use of them. She was rather startled, screamed even. What else could Will expect? He was handing over the unconscious boy with a limp body. And he himself didn't look like he was in a much better state.

The lady called for the medical team, and they rushed over. She looked as though she hadn't yet gotten over it. Nico looked so frail and weak, like those vampires featured in movies.

Suddenly, everyone looked to Will. He was panting.

"Do you need to rest?" A middle-aged doctor with blonde hair asked him. If Will wasn't in that current situation,he would have marvelled at how alike they looked. Both had calming blue eyes and sandy hair. But Will did not notice any of that.

"I'm fine. You should check on him though, he has had a panic attack. Better to give him some breathing space and air. He also doesn't like to be touched, and the last time i did it, he nearly killed me. I suggest you put some locks on the door to prevent him from escaping. In addition, i would request for you to give him some food, seeing that he's so skinny. And uh...yeah that's about it. Have a nice day."

Will hastily bowed at the people and stumbled out. But he returned seconds later.

"Would i be of any help here?"  
_  
Nico awoke to people with surgical masks staring down at him. He shifted under their gaze, aware of the scrutiny.

"Helen he's awake." A male nudged the lady beside him.

"As if i can't tell Edward." She smiled at him, probably intending for it to be sweet but women's charms never worked on him. "How are you feeling?"

"Dead." Nico deadpanned. The doctors chuckled nervously. Nico stole a glance at what he guessed was the clock, but his vision was blurry and unclear. He looked at the man named 'Edward'.

"What's the time please?" Nico queried as politely as he could. "And also, how long was i out for?"

Edward pulled off his mask and tucked it under his chin. "It's about four in the afternoon. Seeing that you came in at around one, about three hours."

Nico nodded. "Not too long." He muttered.

"What was that?" Helen asked. Nico shook his head slowly, testing out his range of movement.

"Nothing." He replied.

He stared at the doctors, who stared back at him. "Can i leave yet?"

"No. We have yet to check-"

"Why not?" Nico asked with controlled fury. Everyone flinched, and Nico knew he had given out too much of his aura. "Why not?" He asked again.

"Because we can't tell if you're fully well." A familiar voice spoke behind them.

Nico strained his head to the side. "Will? What the f-"

"Language Nico." Will pointed out. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Well what do you want me to say? Oh great William, doctor of thy, what the frickle frackle?"

The doctors looked rather uncomfortable at the statement but didn't say anything. Nico rolled his eyes and sat up in the bed.

"Why are you here?" Nico repeated. This time, Helen said something.

"He brought you here. And he seems to know your condition pretty well." Nico scoffed.

"If so, what for keep me here? Just ask him if you want to know my condition right?"

Helen scratched her neck, debating internally. "Well…"

"Aren't i right?" Nico pressed, forcing out the answer he wanted.

They looked between each other and shrugged. Edward put a finger to his chin, considering the situation.

"Okay then. You may leave, but if the teachers asked-" Will burst out at this, enraged.

"No no no no no! He needs to stay here! Fine. I don't know his condition that well, but i do know more than you all." Will said.

Nico glared at the boy. He finally had the exit pass, and Will had shot it down. "But if i don't know myself, how can you know me? How can anyone know me?"

Will smirked. "Exactly what i mean." He looked to the doctors. "Isn't this worrying? Shouldn't we detain him here?"

The doctors smiled at Will's suggestion. "Yes yes indeed." Helen in particular put a hand to her forehead.

"Does he do this often? As in persuade others?" She directed it at Will. "Cause for a second i was really going to let him off."

Will sighed. "Yep. Does that a lot."

Nico scowled. "Good job Will. Now not only am I unable to freaking move but I am also incapable of tutoring you tomorrow. Look at what you've done." Nico muttered.

Will raised his eyebrows. "Seriously? All we needed was a brief check on your mental health and boom! You're free to go."

Nico turned red. "Oh. I thought you were going to hold me here for ages."

Will snorted. "Not everyone enjoys your company."

Nico shrugged. That was exactly what everyone said, but in the end, they all still kept him here and there, restrained him, tried to talk to him, yada yada yada yada ya. He simply didn't understand the logic of a human.

"Okay, since you're going to do a brief check, just get it done and over with."  
_  
Nico wanted to scream at those idiots. They said 'brief check', but it ended nine hours later. Which meant that including the time taken for Nico to go home, Nico would only reach at two the next morning. Nothing wrong with that, but honestly, couldn't they be more precise?

He slipped his feet into his shoes and glared at them, daring them to stop him. They all withered under his gaze as they sent him off.

Nico walked home, not hearing the soft sounds of soles slapping the grounds behind him.

"Hey Nico." Nico jumped. He had totally forgotten about Will.

"What are you doing here?" Will raised both eyebrows, and even without Nico's night vision, it was obvious.

"What do you mean by that? Have you forgotten that i live in your neighbourhood?"

"I can never forget that." Nico mumbled under his breath, surprised by what even came out of his mouth.

"What was that?" Will asked.

"Nothing." Nico replied quickly. He took a deep breath and fiddled with his fingers in the jacket pockets. Silence stretched between them; the comfortable kind. It was nice to have some peace and quiet after a long eventful day at school.

They turned a bend, the bend, rather, as it was the one where they went their separate ways. A few more blocks down the lane would be Nico's home, and a block or two sideways would be Will's.

"Um...well bye then." Will said.

"Sure." Nico responded, his head still down. He picked it up slightly and looked at Will. "See you tomorrow?"

Will smiled. "Yeah."

Nico felt a small smile at his lips. "Yeah." He reiterated. "Of course."

Will tilted his head to their side, a lopsided grin spread across his face. "You look nice when you smile."

Nico stumbled over a rock along the pavement. "I...what?"

"Yeah you do." Nico was well aware of the blush creeping up his cheeks. He forced the corners of his lips down into his usual frown.

"Idiot. You're so dumb sometimes, you know? Can't even tell the difference between the words 'odd' and 'nice'."

Will shook his head and shrugged. "Whatever you say, man, whatever you say."

Nico let his feet peel themselves off the pavement as he continued on his way home.


	14. Chapter 14

Hazel eyed her brother as he stealthily shut the door, the only sound coming from the faint click of the door. She frowned.

"Brother? Why are you home so late today?"

He flinched. Hazel sighed and flipped the light switch on. She folded her arms across her chest and gave Nico a head to toe check. He seemed gone for the most part, a little skinny, but when was hee not?

Nico licked his lips, contemplating. "I was at the nurse." Hazel drew her eyebrows together tightly.

"What do you mean?' She whispered, concerned. "Are you okay? Frank and i were staying up waiting for you but i told him to get to sleep first. What's wrong Nico?"

Nico swallowed. "Just go to sleep Hazel."

Hazel was indignant. "No. Not unless you tell me what's wrong."

Nico gritted his teeth. "Please, Haze. Just sleep."

Hazel felt a pop inside her. "No. Why can't you just tell me? Do you not trust me?" She asked, hurt.

"Just. Fucking. Go. To. Sleep."

Perhaps it was because she was exhausted, or maybe it was Nico swearing that set her off. Perhaps even because she felt Nico was being a stubborn hormonal teenager.

She exploded, her voice cracking. "No! What do you not get? I can't sleep! Seeing you so weak and skinny…it pains me. It makes me feel so inadequate you know, to see my own brother deteriorating with every passing day yet being unable to do anything. I don't even know if you trust me anymore, if you want me by your side. I know i will never be comparable to your dear sister Bianca, but i am your sister! You saved me from the dead, and i love you for that. I want to help you Nico."

Nico was almost emotionless, and Hazel wondered if he even took anything in. Then he did the most unlikely thing Hazel thought he'd ever do. He pulled her in for a hug. She could feel his protruding bones digging into her skin in a comforting way that made her feel wanted. She smiled despite her sadness.

"I'm sorry Hazel, that you feel this way. I do love you, but I'd rather help myself than anyone else." Hazel nodded. She respected her brother for his strong will to do what he wanted, but he needed to know he wasn't the only one hurting at the end of this. But she would let him find that out on his own.

She drew back and gave Nico one long last look as she went to her room to sleep.  
_

Nico blew out a long deep sigh. The fourth day of life at this sucky school was only just beginning, and yet he felt exhaustion closing in on him. He shook his head, but instead of awakening him, it only sent a headache his way.

He wanted sleep. Just a little more, a short nap of ten minutes, just to get him up. He never really slept much, usually around an hour or so. But last night...he spent the whole of his night thinking up ways to tutor Will. Not that it was really important or anything, but he just liked to have things planned out, neat and precise, nothing going wrong, no accidents, no unexpected turn of events, no trips to somewhere undesired.

Nico kicked a stone along the pavement. As much as Will had he were acquaintances, he still very much did not want to have to spend his free time doing something a teacher should be doing; teaching. So unfair. It wasn't as if his english was that good, everyone else was just horrible at it.

Who didn't know about proper use of tenses, or what nouns were? Who cared if your use of language was impeccable? In a demigod world, it was highly unlikely that they would even survive past young adulthood. Like honestly, it wasn't as though he'd grow up to be some worldwide famous philosopher or something. He sat down at his usual seat when he reached the classroom, and the rest of the day passed in a blur, with him standing up and greeting whoever the teacher was at appropriate junctures.

He listened vaguely, his eyes falling on everything except the teacher. His fingers tapped the desk, his long uncut nails making sharp clicking sounds against the material.

His ears only caught the sound of the dismissal bell, and he shoved everything from his desk off into his bag. He stuffed the last of his books into bis bag and slung it around his back, all the while staring at Will. He tossed his head back and gave a friend of h8s Nico never knew he made a glowing smile. The ticking of the clock seemed to slow, the world stopping to watch him gather his things and gently put them into his bag. He tucked his homework into the little compartment at the back of his bag and hoisted it up, its beige canvas body slapping against the back of his jeans.

Nico heard a soft voice behind him call his name and he wondered why he had spent so much time zoning out as he had. He turned around, still confused.

"Hi." It was Suzume, and Nico barely kept himself from freaking out. His fingers inched toward the knife in his pocket.

"Suzume." Nico said, her name as clear as day. She smiled. Her voice was like he remembered, sweet and soft. He could not believe his mind thinking up atrocious ways to disfigure the kindness and generosity in her tone. He felt embarrassed just recalling what he thought of her before.

"Yeah, I'm Suzume." She interlaced her fingers daintily. "I was wondering, well, seeing that you're so good at writing poetry that maybe...umm...you don't have to do this but...could you help me write a poem for Roman?"

Nico tilted his head, trying to remember why the name had sounded so familiar. Then it clicked. Roman, the dude who sat beside him, the person who had a crush on Suzume, and based on Suzume's request, it seemed that there was mutual affection.

"Ah...yeah sure. Any specific thing you want me to say?" Suzume shook her head.

"No. I trust your ability and oh," Suzume slung her backpack to the front and dug inside it for a piece of scrap paper. Then, she pressed it down on the table and quickly scribbled down the alphabet.

Nico was confused. "I know the english alphabet." Suzume sighed, a gracious one.

"For you to write in my handwriting." She thrust it in his direction. "Remember to sign off with my full name. Suzume Minatosaki."

She looked at him deeply. "This must be your first time doing this, and i don't want you to feel obligated so…"

Suzume took out a crumpled ten dollar note and hastily smoothed it out, as smooth as it could be. "So...here. Keep it. Take it as a fee to use your services."

Stunned, Nico mechanically raised his arm to receive it. "Thanks, i guess."

Suzume shrugged. "I should be thanking you, honest. For another thing, please use the full form for Roman's name."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Huh."

Suzume nodded. "Well yeah. Formality you know." She looked at him, worried suddenly. "You do know his full name right?"

Nico slowly shook his head. "No."

Suzume rolled her eyes. "For your information, it's Roman Ivanov."

Nico didn't respond to that, but instead, gave a statement of his own. "By the way, do you happen to know the name of the girl who's having a party or something?"

Suzume frowned. "Yes. She's the type of annoying popular girls who i have no idea how they got popular in the first place. Pensy Vane."

Nico gave a humourless laugh. "Know a lot of those. And to think that she was pretty much named after the town of Pennsylvania." She offered a small light-hearted laugh. He shook the note in his hand. "Give it to you tomorrow?"

She grinned. "Yeah. You'll be the first one invited to our get-together party. Thanks!"

Nico walked away, only to find himself beside none other than Will Solace.

"You do remember that you're supposed to tutor me today right?"

Nico groaned. "I nearly forgot about it."

Will grinned. "Well, you gotta do what you gotta do. At my house yeah?"

Nico nodded. He spied a dark shadow about two feet away. "You know, both of us are pretty tired and we both know that the journey to your home is long right?"

Will nodded cautiously, not too sure where this was going. "Yes. Why?"

Nico smirked maliciously and held on to Will's sleeve. "Cause then we're gonna take the fast route."

And together, they fell into the shadows.  
_

Will nearly threw up but stopped himself just in time.

"Did you really have to?" He asked Nico weakly. Nico must have been stronger lately for he solidified rather quickly.

"Yep." He yawned. "Let's get down to work."

He pulled the seat in the far corner of Will's room toward him. Easing himself into the chair, he lazily took out his own pen from his bag and forced Will down into the seat beside him.

"So now, we're gonna start on…"

Nico went on like this at the speed of a bullet, talking non-stop and forcing Will's eyelids open. He made Will do some quick exercises and assessments to test his ability.

Nico held it up in front of the light and squinted slightly to read the answers.

Will smirked. "Far-sighted?" Nico scowled.

"Yes. Got a problem?" Will shook his head.

"No. Not at all."

Nico ignored the comment and went on to lecture Will on his language use and his crappy english in general. He glared at Will.

"Do you even understand what i just said?"

"Kinda." Nico rolled his eyes.

"You didn't get anything right?" Slowly, Will shook his head, but to his defence, he said.

"Well, we are tired."

Nico couldn't deny that. He tended to speak really fast when he lacked sleep.

"Wanna do something then?"

Nico shrugged. "Actually, i got something to do. A task."

He leaned in closer to Will. "You know how Roman likes Suzume?"

Will nodded and Nico continued. "Suzume asked me to write a poem for Roman 'from her', and i gotta do it, but besides outer appearances, i don't know much about him."

Will tilted his head. "Okay…"

Nico put his hands behind him on the chair and rested his weight on his arms. "Care to share?"

Will put a finger to his chin. "Can. Take a piece of paper and write it down."

Nico snatched up a piece of paper and took his pen. Will looked at the paper.

"Isn't that our science homework?"

Nico flipped the paper around and scribbled on the title, to Will's horror. "Well now it isn't."

Nico wanted to wipe that look off his face. "Carry on Will. I'm waiting."

With a sigh, Will began. "He's nice, a tad annoying, He's mostly quiet, unless talking about Suzume, and contemplative. He's kinda funny sometimes, like the odd kind of humour. And he's Russian, so he tends to change Russian phrases into english, which Suzume finds amusing. He enjoys...i honestly have no idea. That's all i think."

Nico hummed and scrawled it down on the paper, forming broken, incomplete notes.

"Okay. Now wait a while as i form something." Nico murmured, almost to himself.

A few minutes later, Nico held a flame under the corner of the paper where he wrote his poem on and gave it a charred look.

He drew a tiny unnoticeable rose at the top of the 'I' in 'Ivanov' and he sat back.

He smiled.  
_

Will watched Nico's pen ink as it ran fluidly onto the paper. His nose twitched a little every now and then as he worked on the poem. Will peered over his left shoulder to see what he was writing.

His had used a black pen to write Suzume and Roman's names in cursive, so elegant yet fancy. A tiny touch to subtly convey his expertise. The words he wrote were not like his own, but rather, like one of a young girl. Will was stunned by Nico's seriousness and utmost attention on his work.

He had not expected this adhd boy to even be capable of sitting still and focusing, yet this boy told another story. Will loved the way Nico crossed the 't's and dotted the 'i's, even the way he added a small curve at the ends of the 'l's. It was so visually satisfying that Will couldn't help but fidget and move his hands along with the strokes.

Will nearly fell over his seat when Nico summoned a flame of hellfire at the tip of his finger and held it under the poem. He was afraid it would burn down the house.

"What are you doing?" Will asked, but Nico ignored him. This Will didn't take to heart; Nico looked so passionate about this hobby of his Will even felt uncomfortable to see Nico so pleased.

Will leaned in closer yet again when Nico diminished the flame on his shirt. He frowned slightly at that, but he trusted Nico knew what he was doing. He cringed when he saw the tiny rose on top of Roman's surname that Nico had drawn, though he found it so beautiful. Almost as if he wanted a rose too.

He looked to Nico, and he was...smiling. A quick one that flashed across his face, but a smile nonetheless. Just seeing Nico smile made Will want to smile too, like the thing about laughter being contagious. But this angelic smile. Nico must have caught his eyes, for he stuffed the poem into his bag.

"It's getting late and i really should get going." Nico said, shovelling the remaining of his stationery into his bag, the clattering sounds sounding weirdly very much like the noises of clanging metal. Will shrugged.

"Sure. Walk you to the door?" Nico rolled his eyes.

"Up to you."

Will bounced after Nico as they ambled towards the doorway.

"How are you going home?"

"I don't know." Will raised his eyebrows.

"I'm gonna go to the mall. Could do with some company."

Nico barely picked his head up as he slipped on his shoes. "I'm not the best company."

"Maybe not, but you're the only one now, so…" Nico lifted his head and his warm brown eyes met Will's.

Nico sighed. "Okay. Let me tell Hazel first, else she'd freak."

Will ran back into the house to turn it upside down to search for the communicator.

He ran back to where Nico was, and panting, he pressed it into his hands. "Here you go."

Nico looked at him weirdly. "Did you just ransack your house to find this?"

Will turned his head wearily to look behind him. "Yeah, i guess i did."

Nico pressed the dial. "Huh. I wasn't in a rush."

"I know."

"So you don't have to be so quick."

"I know."

"But you were."

"I know."

"Um...okay that's cool." Nico pressed the button again. Hazel wasn't picking up.

"Gods, where's Hazel?" Will put a finger to his lips.

"Has she been dismissed from school yet? TJ is known for it's late dismissals you know."

"Oh...yeah. Hazel's dismissed at four but now is only…" Nico shook his sleeve and took a quick glance at the black watch. "...one. Let's go then."

Will motioned for Nico to move to the side and he too slipped on some random shoes. He strode over to his bike and sat on it.

"Wanna ride?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Wanna ride?" Will offered, patting the seat below him. It was the perfect weather for a ride, with the wind a light breeze and the sun shining no where as hotly as it usually did in Singapore.

Nico fidgeted awkwardly, reaching for his bag protectively. Nobody knew this, but he was actually horrible at cycling. The last time he did, he crashed into a bush and sprained his ankle. He had never touched a bike after that.

"...can we walk?" Will raised an eyebrow cheekily.

"Can't ride?" Will mocked him. Nico was indignant.

"Why do you wanna know?" Will seemed to be enjoying this, a smug smile wide across his face.

"Cause you seem really scared about it?" Nico scowled and folded his arms.

"I'm not obliged to tell you." Will looked pleased at this answer.

"Let's go then."

Nico couldn't argue any further. Hesitantly, he walked over to the bicycle and eyed Will as he maneuvered onto the seat. He tapped the space behind him on the seat.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "No other seat?" Will shook his head.

"Nope. Get on." With a sigh, he mounted the bike, careful to leave a space between him and Will. Without warning, Will pushed forward and his legs worked on the pedals. Nico yelped softly, then slapped himself for it. Not exactly the best time to make any scared noises.

It was all going fine, then it didn't. Nico could hear loud banging and colliding sounds coming in the distance.

There was probably some construction going on as cranes and mounds of concrete littered the roads. As they neared the site, such piles of materials became more and more frequent, and larger in size. Every now and then, they rode over a small incline and Nico had to bite back a scream.

"Hang tight, this is gonna get rocky." WIll grinned devilishly, and for once, Nico wasn't excited for such an adventure. They cycled hump over hump, Nico's stomach twisting itself inside out. This was exactly why Nico didn't cycle.

Nico felt like he was going to throw up as they went over lumps of unsolidified cement, and his stomach world was literally in circles. He swallowed a bile that rose in his throat. His lanky arms inched nearer and nearer to Will's shirt.

Will looked over his shoulder and he saw Nico's sheet white complexion. Suddenly, Will didn't look as confident as he had been.

"Hey. You okay there?" Nico didn't answer, and instead, he wrapped his arms around Will's torso and rested his head on his back. Through parched lips, he uttered,

"Please. Are we reaching yet?"  
_  
The moment Will felt Nico's arms wrap around his stomach, he was speechless. He saw Nico's paleness and decided that that was probably enough for the day.

Then he felt Nico's head rest on his back. He was cold, so cold, but yet, there was this comforting heat. Nico's hands found just the right place to hold Will, and his head on Will's back was just like it had meant to be there all along. It sent a chill down Will's spine, and something he had never felt before.

"Please. Are we reaching yet?" Nico asked feebly, mumbling so soft it could barely be heard over the construction. Will didn't trust himself to speak. They were nearing the mall already and to stop now would be both a hazard to the two of them as well as the vehicles.

Will gulped and let one hand off the handlebar, a subtle hint of his skill. He reached for Nico's hand below his chest and felt it. Warm gold light glowed from his fingers in the form of tendrils. Based on his abilities, he could tell Nico was close to fainting.

Will pedalled harder than ever before and his legs were so tired. But Will refused to stop.

"A little more darlin', a little more." Despite Nico's weak state, he still found the strength to wrench his arm out of Will's grip and slapped him lightly on the back.

"Don't call me that, bitch." But his string of curses didn't have nearly as much impact as it should have.

Perspiration was literally glistening every inch of Will's body as he cycled. He took a glimpse heavenward and saw the traffic light turning red. He stole a glance behind him. Well, no traffic light could stop him then.

Just as the light blinked off, Will gave the ground a huge push and they were propelled forward. Nico's grip on Will tightened.

"Are we there yet?" Will felt his hand again, and this time, Nico didn't even try to pull away. Gods, just one bit away from losing consciousness.

Will swerved to a stop just in front of the bicycle ports and put his foot down to stop the momentum from throwing them off. Will swung Nico forward and tugged at his sleeve to shake him out of his dazed form. Nico's thin lips were a ghostly shade of white, and the brown in his eyes brought out the whiteness of his skin.

Will frenziedly grabbed Nico's wrist and after a quick survey of the area, sent a light beam from his palm to Nico's hands. Nico struggled with more strength as the power seeped into his blood. And finally, when he managed to get his pale bony hand out of Will's grip, Will knew Nico was fine.

Will shakily stood up onto his feet and tried to shake off the dizzy feeling. Through his filtered vision, everything seemed so...glossed. Light was practically reflected off every object at a higher degree, and if not for Will's 'Apollo' quality blood, Will should have been blinded.

He caught sight of Nico staring at him, and he held a piece of cloth in front of him to hoist him up. Will gladly took it, not even realising he had sunken to the floor.

Nico had this relieved look on his face that totally did not suit his usual scowl.

"Thanks." Nico said as he pulled him up, his hands not quite as stable as his usual state. And with one of the smiles Will found so oddly pleasing, he added.

"I'll treat you to a meal. For helping me, i guess."

Will smirked and scoffed. "You'd better. You got yourself into this mess, and on top of that, got me into it too."

Nico's little smile faltered. "Yeah, about that. Sorry."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Hm."

He rolled his eyes at Will when a teasing grin worked its way onto his face and Nico knew he was joking. They walked into the mall, and Nico welcomed the rush of cool air. Like the one at Bedok, the malls here were as beautiful and well-maintained. Shops were fitted with double glass walls and the good use of mirrors made the mall seem twice as large as its actual size.

"Where do you wanna eat?" Nico asked. Will didn't turn to face him, but he answered.

"Anywhere. Starbucks?" Nico didn't respond, though he led them to the shop anyway. They found a seat at the far end, a little private area that was almost unknown to anyone.

"How did you find this place?" Will asked. Nico rolled his shoulders back.

"There's always this kind of areas. Just keep an eye out for it and you'll find it." A lady came over to take their orders. Nico caught Will pick up the menu and looked through it a couple times before finally deciding on one.

He lowered the menu slightly. "Anything?"

Nico had been staring at Will so intently he had missed the question. "Uh what?" Will smacked his forehead.

"You're treating me to whatever i want?" Nico nodded.

"Yeah. Whatever." Nico looked through the menu himself. There was the usual; croissants, puffs, beverages and whatever other small snacks there were there.

He turned to the waitress and was about to order, then he glanced at her nametag. Angela Colombo. An Italian name.

Nico smiled internally. Finally, he could practice his mother tongue.

"Un frappè per favore." The lady smiled. Like him, Nico guessed, she had not been able to use Italian in a long time.

"Certo. Che mi dici del tuo amico?" The waitress gestured toward Will and Nico snorted.

"Will. Whaddaya want? The lady's asking." Will seemed rather put off by Nico speaking Italian out of the blue, and it was plainly displayed on his face, from the way his nose wrinkled to the way his eyebrows drew themselves together.

"A toast? I don't know…" Nico pointed to the illustration on the menu and showed the lady. She jotted it down on the sheet of paper in her hands.

While they waited for their orders, Nico stared awkwardly at Will and vice versa.

Probably to kill the silence, Will asked, "When did you pick up Italian?"

Nico scowled. He hated it when people asked him this kind of questions. "When i was ten." He answered shortly.

The conversation died down to nothing and they ate quietly. Nico cut up the food into small pieces, like they were little crumbs.

Will noticed this. "Why are you eating like that? Are you a child playing with its food?"

Nico frowned but didn't comment. So what if he wanted to be the little child he had been unable to be so many years ago when he deserved it? He could barely believe this was the same boy who had helped him earlier, and the very same boy he had wrapped his arms around. Nico reddened.

"Oh gods, what now?" Will said. Nico shook his head vigorously as though Will had a way of finding out what he was thinking. He poked at his food with his knife and picked up a few pieces to put in his mouth. He pushed away his plate before eating even half of the food, but no one could tell. Nico had cut it up so finely it looked like there was this layer of golden stuff on top of the plate.

"I should go on a diet." Nico announced. He pinched the nonexistent fats between his fingers. "I'm getting fat."

Will choked on his food. "Sorry what? Yeah totally. So obviously." Either Nico didn't pick up on the sarcasm in his tone or he chose not to hear it. He glanced over at WIll's plate. He was barely even done with a third of his food.

"You eat really slowly." Nico commented. Will shrugged.

"So i can eat less." Nico scrunched up his nose.

"Huh." Nico waited a few more minutes, maybe up to half an hour, watching Will eat. It wasn't boring as he had expected though. There was this certain way that Will liked to hold his fork and knife that Nico somehow just wanted to learn how to do. Nico studied him closely as he cut his food up into round circular pieces instead of the normal haphazardly shaped squares and such that people normally did.

Nico smiled, then immediately hit his hand. He was smiling a lot lately.

And he hated himself for it.  
_  
After Will ate finish his meal, which took approximately forty-five minutes, inclusive of paying and some idle chitchat, Nico decided to go around the mall. They walked past pretty much everything, then something finally caught Nico's eye just as he was about to leave.

It was similar to the jacket Hazel loved to wear, except it was from Vanns. He stared at it. It was a nice mix of holographic prints and matte black words. It was really his style.

He pointed it out to Will.

"Hey. That looks pretty sweet." Nico whispered. He had never really been to malls, and to be to such a big place full of clothes all at once was quite a shock for Nico.

"I suppose." Will seemed to be considering something. Will walked into the store and stole a swift glimpse at the price tag. Nico couldn't see the price, but based on Will's expression, it must have been really expensive. Well, nothing really was too expensive for the son of the lord of riches and such but Nico wasn't a spendthrift.

"Cool. Let's go then." Nico said, and started toward the exit of the mall.

Will followed slowly after and went to collect the bicycle.

"I don't care we're taking the shadows." Nico said as he spotted the bicycle. Just the thought of it made his stomach churn. Suppressing the shudder that ran up and down his sine, he took out a piece of fabric, preparing a cloth for Will to hold onto as they travelled.

"I'm gonna teach you how to ride one day, and," Will grumbled and swatted away the cloth. "We don't exactly need a damn cloth you know."

Nico looked as though he was going to persist but he didn't. Rather, he stuffed the cloth into his bag and lightly touched Will's fingers. A faint blush coloured Will's cheeks.

"Hold on to your bicycle. I don't need it to hit me one day when i'm in the realm." Nico mumbled and before Will could even respond, Nico whisked them away into the shadows.


	16. Chapter 16

Nico slid the poem into Roman's bag and looked to Suzume. She nodded and signalled for him to close the bag and zip it up tight. Nico, after a few errors in comprehending her requests, did so and hurriedly turned in the opposite direction when Roman returned. He had been at Will's table while Nico hid the paper, and Will was distracting him.

Together, Suzume and Nico had agreed that it would be way too un-romantic for Suzume to just pass Roman the poem. After all, Suzume had said, what if Roman didn't like her? If she personally passed it to him, it would have been awkward for the both of them.

In addition, if Roman didn't like her, he could pretend he didn't see the note or whisper to Nico about it. Suzume even said said that if Roman agreed to go out with her, she would give him a candy to show her love. A red candy, to be precise. Apparently, it was some tradition to give red candies to the beloved.

Nico had wanted to laugh it off and reassure her that Roman definitely liked him back, but he certainly did not want to spoil the surprise.

Roman slipped into the seat. Nico could hardly contain himself. He slid his gaze over to Roman's bag when he took out his book but Nico must have placed it too far in for Roman didn't seem to notice. He waited in anticipation as he put the book back, hoping that this time, he'd see it, but nope. He didn't even blink.

Nico's patience was wearing thin. If this boy didn't find the poem soon enough, he'd just shove his head into his bag and make him look around inside it until he found it. Nico took a deep meditating breath. No violence at TJ, no violence at TJ. He listened with false calm as Roman went on and on as usual about Suzume's ethereal beauty.

He was unable to stand it anymore. He faked dropping his pen into Roman's bag and he cleared his throat. From the corner of his eye, he could see Suzume glaring at him and jerking her head toward Roman.

Calm down, he gestured, and pointed to Roman who was intently searching through his bag.

"Sorry bro, couldn't find your pen." Nico sighed through gritted teeth.

"Are you sure you can't find it? I am very sure it fell in there." He emphasised and gave the bag a little kick to make the note more obvious. The kick must have worked, for Roman soon shot back up with a confused expression on his face.

"What's this?" Nico shrugged rather forcefully.

"I don't know. Why don't you open it? I mean, obviously you can read a folded piece of paper." Nico said sarcastically. Roman's nose twitched at it but he opened it anyway.

"Well what is it?" Nico prompted Roman, hinting he wanted to know what it was about. "Is it from Suzume?" He looked over to Suzume who was biting her nails nervously.

Roman frowned. "How did you know?" Nico gulped.

"Lucky guess." Nico steered the conversation back to topic. "What does it say?"

Roman's lips pressed together to form a thin line, then it changed to a lopsided smile. "Sh-she confessed to me?" He muttered deliriously to himself. Nico rolled his eyes and inclined his head at Suzume, who let loose a huge breath.

"Is it a letter?" Nico asked boredly, already knowing the answer. Roman shook his head.

"A poem." Nico feigned interest.

"Is it any good?" Roman looked so over the moon Nico thought he may not have even heard the question. Nico rested his back against the chair and took a sip of water.

"Of course!" He answered finally, moments later. Roman nudged Nico's shoulder. "May even be better than yours."

Nico choked on his water, making an absolute mess of his table. Mr Chia glanced disapprovingly at him as he hastily wiped it dry. Nico blinked a couple times, and pretended nothing had ever happened.

"Better than mine." Nico repeated. Roman nodded, obviously so lost in his own world he hadn't realised the literal waterfall at Nico's desk.

"Sorry mate." Roman said. "But i'll obviously choose my crush's poems." He straightened his collar. "I'm gonna ask her out later."

Nico rolled his shoulders. "Okay."

Nico crossed his legs at the knees and rested his elbows on the table. He zoned out a lot durjng boring lessons, and this time wasn't very much different. Except it was.

For some odd reason, the memory of Cupid materialised in his head. Cupid looked just liked Percy; sea-green eyes and jet black hair, then flickering every now and then to have sandy hair and startling blue eyes. Percy-no, Cupid, was screaming at him, mocking him, forcing him to come out. Nico had been on the brink of tears. He could see Jason there, and even without Jason, there was this…'Percy' in front of him. Nico was gay, a homosexual, and an introvert, and there he was, expected to come out unlike the coward he was. Jason must not have known this, but it felt like 'Percy' had put an invisible collar around his neck, literally threatening him with his life to come out, strangling him. Nico's throat had felt like it was a dried up river, parched and thirsty, and pain shot up his spine. But he had forced down that scream of anguish.

He looked at his crush figure in the eye, and shouted, confessed, came out. It was frightening, like he was revealing his true feelings for Percy in front of him himself. Nico wanted to just reach out, while Annabeth wasn't there, to pull him closer and hug him, kiss him, and feel him like Percy was his own. But that 'Percy', the god, was not him. But it was so life-like. He had since developed a phobia for people in general.

Many thought he trusted Jason, especially since he knew his secret, but Nico didn't trust anyone. He had sworn to himself, if Jason ever went against his promise, he'd wipe his memories, everyone's memories, and he would do it without tears or guilt. He would harness that power and use it like the man everyone wanted him to be. He would tell himself that they all deserved it, if they really didn't. Nico could tell himself he didn't deserve to live, but there he was. And he didn't want to. Sure, he trusted Jason now, but he hadn't, and nothing would change that. It was a thread of fear, slowly uncoiling over time.

He hadn't trusted Jason, and Nico couldn't say he had when he didn't. It was to be in a state of denial, and Nico liked to be in it, but such facts, when placed in front of him, weren't to be refuted. He would not come to terms with Bianca's death 'not being his fault', and he would never say he 'wasn't the cause for Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus'. He would forever blame himself for the scarred lives his former crush and girlfriend in tow had to live in.

He didn't get up from his seat when the bell rang. He didn't even feel the shake on his shoulders. He didn't hear the claps or applause when Suzume agreed to go out with Roman. He didn't do anything, or feel anything. He was numb, so numb to everything. He didn't hear, nor did he want to, and he was in a completely different realm.

He was in the world of his memories on a film strip, flashing in front of him.

In the memory, he experienced a man's warm fingers cupping Nico's cheeks. Crows feet stretched the sides of Hades' eyes, the rare loving smile Nico had in a frame at home on his face. Hades was saying something, something that was barely audible over the thick layer of age that hung over the memory. Nico only remembered feeling nice, warmth, this fuzzy feeling he once knew to be love.

Then suddenly Bianca was holding his hand instead, and his stuffed toy was in her other hand. Like the previous memory, Nico couldn't hear anything other than the faint sound of wailing sirens in the background, and gunshots being fired into the air, dozens at a time. He pressed his fingers to his ears, but Bianca gently pried them away. It was like she had removed the age-old sound barrier that blocked the audio. He could hear everything clearly.

"Nico." His name. Out of the three family members she could call, she said his. As clear as day, even above all the noise in the background. His name. The feeling of skin against his own felt comforting, soft children's hands.

Love.

Nico suddenly felt a sharp jolt and was back to the present. The wound at his side seemed to open up all over again.

He glared at the person. Will.

"What is it?" Will raised an eyebrow, but Nico could see the thin sheen of sweat that lined his forehead.

"We are released early today. Something about an unexpected holiday or whatnot." Will filled him in. "And Suzume asked you to follow her and the girls out for some shopping or something. They're leaving already. Better give them an answer quick."

Nico turned to ran after the girls. Then he felt a tug at his bones. Well more like his arm, but his arm was barely layered with any meat anyway. And his jacket hardly made a difference.

"What?" Nico asked Will, exasperated.

"She also invited you to her house for the party. Said that you knew about it already."

Nico nodded. "That one? Oh yeah. Ok, sure, bye."

Nico chased after the girls. The wind was a disturbance to his run, constantly blowing his hair into his face and tickling the insides od his ears.

"Hey!" He called after them. Suzume turned around.

"Nico? I thought you weren't coming."

Still rather out of breath, Nico responded. "Well here i am. I'm not disturbing your plans am i?" The girls shook their heads.

"Oh no. Not at all." One of the girls looked at him oddly.

"You're the boy from the dining area aren't you?" Nico examined her closely. This was the one who thought he and Hazel were a couple.

"Oh yeah. And you're…"

"Vida. Zu's really really good friend but not best friends cause people claim that you have to fight more often to be considered that so…" Nico nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Let's go then." They, all six of them, gave their assent and they began the long journey to the fashion store at Orchard.

_

"How do i look in this?" Zu placed the dress in front of her body and twirled around. The girls wrinkled their noses.

"The colour of the dress blends in too well with your skin tone." They snickered to each other. "But Roman would love this on you. He loves anything and everything on you." They teased, earning a pair of pink-tipped ears.

"Stop it!" She said between bursts of giggling. Unlike what Nico thought, girl shopping wasn't boring or mundane. It was actually fun and cool to ses them try on shirts and blouses, dresses and such.

Zu reached for the pale denim white overalls and hung it in front of her. "How bout this?"

Nico finally spoke his first word. "Goes great with your tan skin tone. Brings out your eyes too." The gang turned to stare at him. He squirmed uncomfortably.

"What?" He protested. Before the girls could say anything in his or their defence, Zu nodded.

"You might be right." She said from inside the dressing room. "It's a bit long though. Vi, could you pass me a size smaller?" She called. Vida dove into the rack of clothing and found one but Nico stopped her.

"Zu?" He spoke louder. "You should just roll it up at the ankles."

Vida looked at him weirdly and hung the clothing back on the hanger. Zu made a weird ''umph'' sound and Nico assumed she was reaching down to fold it up. After a few moments of awkward stares being exchanged within the gang and Nico, Zu emerged.

She looked taller and leaner, the shade in her eyes more prominent than ever before.

Vida looked surprised that a boy's advice actually worked. She pulled Zu at the belt loops toward her. "You look like a gem." She peered over Zu's shoulder. "Not bad choice there."

Nico shrugged. Maria used to like asking Nico and Bianca for their opinions on clothing. Sure, it had been the nineteen-thirties fashion, but Nico had been observing what youngsters liked to wear these days, and caught on the trend pretty quickly.

Zu waved her hand in front of Nico. There was another shirt now. Pastel blue with little gold specks.

Nico put his finger to his chin in thought. The girls looked to him in anticipation. Nico wanted to smile. But he stopped himself as he always did.

This was going to be his first ever friend group yet.

Or clique as teenagers called it nowadays.

They left the boutique four hours later, everyone with bags full of clothes in both hands. Nico had offered to carry more, being a guy, and a demigod, which none of them knew. His mouth ached from the talking. The girls were chatting among themselves, giving Nico every now and then an opportunity to speak, but he was declined.

The girls looked at him suddenly, or so it seemed as he had spaced out. Vida pinched Zu lightly on the forearm, a little bruise already beginning to form as she released it. Zu slapped her back but without evil intent.

Zu directed her gaze to Nico. "We're gonna hold the party on second April, since first April is April fool's day and we don't want Roman to think it's a joke. We're gonna go Lakeview mall on first though, wanna come?"

Despite himself, Nico nodded. "It'd be my pleasure."

The girls cooed at his small smile. "You look pretty when you smile."

Nico wrinkled eyebrows. "Pretty?"

The girls waved it away snd were about to leave them Vida turned around suddenly. "And for confirmation's sake, you are gay right?" Nico froze. How in Hades name had she found out?

"How'd you know?" He asked, a little disgruntled now. Vida lifted a corner of her lips.

"Guessed as much." She must have seen his worried expression. "It's okay. We aren't tattletales and we don't snitch on our friends, especially not our good friends. Also, it isn't that obvious." She patted her chest. "Your secret's safe with us."

The gang hooted in agreement. "And next time," Zu added as she took her bags from Nico. "We're gonna give you a makeover. Trust me, you are gonna look so pretty."

Nico sighed. "Why pretty?" They smirked.

"Because you are more like a girl. Your facial features would fit makeup so well. But no fear, cause we can make you look so hot," Vida snapped her fingers sassily. "You're gonna look so hot all the guys and girls alike will totally fall for you."

Nico had no idea what to say to that, so he just nodded. Zu smiled.

"Since you're agreeing, we're organising it forward to tomorrow. Meet you at my house at Tampines, ten in the morning."

Nico nodded numbly. "Alright. Fine." He mumbled.

But just the thought of finally having a normal lifestyle sent butterflies in his stomach. The kind that made him smile.

So he did, and this time, he let the smile freely take over his face.


	17. Chapter 17

Nico gave Hazel a small wave. Hazel immediately put down her book.

"Where have you been to brother?" Nico checked the clock on the wall. It was two hours past the time he had expected to come home.

"I went out with my friends." Hazel smiled.

"Really? Who?"

"Not like you'd know but Suzume, or Zu, Vida, or Vi, Candice, Chiara, Kyria and...Sheila i think her name was?" Hazel's jaw went slack.

"Zu and her gang?" Nico seemed confused that Hazel knew.

"Yeah that one." Hazel squealed excitedly.

"Holy Hera! That's like, the most popular gang in school and all the guys in my class have a crush on her." Nico scoffed.

"Naw she's taken. Just got together with Roman."

"Who's Roman?" She said.

"The dude who sits beside me in class. You saw him before."

"That nerd? The guys in my class are probably questioning her taste in men right now."

"Well...yes. He's nice though. Well, based on what Solace told me."

"Huh."

"Yeah. Oh and I'm going out tomorrow."

"Again? Will came to ask just now where you were and looked rather disappointed when you weren't in."

"Okay...so…"

"Well you'd better call him to tell him that you're home." Hazel caught hold of his shirt as he began to walk toward the communicator he dubbed as the DC, which stood for Demigod Communicator. "And why didn't you tell me about the phone thing?"

"I guess it must have slipped my mind. Sorry." Hazel sighed.

"It's okay. You've made new friends, it's natural to want to become closer to them." Hazel lay on her stomach.

"How did you become friends with her anyway?"

"She kinda asked me to help her get together with Roman."

"Uh-hu-wait what!?"

"Yeah i wrote something in her name for Roman."

"Gods my brother is one real charmer."

"Yeah he is. Glad you realised that."

"Okay go call Will now then."

"See ya later. Eating dinner out today?"

"Okay. See you at seven."  
_

Will shut the door behind him and flopped onto the bed. Nico was out, with girls, and there he was, alone at home. He rolled onto his stomach and lay flat, his chin easing into the gap between his two palms.

It was odd not to have a nuisance around to bother him. Like there was something missing, a feeling he couldn't place. He let his tongue hang loosely outside his mouth, tasting the humid air that inhabited his room. It smelled weird.

He sighed. He had liked the smell of Nico's room. It smelled warm and nice, a sweet scent of chocolate hanging in the air. There was this homey feel he didn't get at his own home.

He heard the ringing of his DC. His ears perked up at the first ring. He shot up and raced to it.

"Hey." Nico's familiar voice. "I heard you came over today."

Will shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Yes...i did." He twirled his hair nervously around his index finger. "I wasn't disturbing you was i?"

Will could almost hear Nico's frown. The cute one he did with his nose slightly scrunched up. "Well you would have if I was home but otherwise, as much as I would like to think you were, you weren't."

Will breathed an audible sigh of relief that sounded way louder through the DC. "Okay good."

"What did you come over for?"

"Erm…" Will carefully measured his words. "I wanted to teach you to ride a bike-"

"What?" Will winced at the sharpness of his tone.

"Yeah then i remembered you had gone out." Nico grumbled incoherently.

"Fine." Nico seemed to consider something. "If you still wanna teach me, we have Monday's tutoring session to waste."

"No!" Will burst out, then cringed at how cutting his words must have sounded. "Whatever. Up to you. I can tomorrow though."

"But i can't." Nico stated rather plainly.

"Why?" Will asked.

"Cos I'm going out with the girls. They're really good company actually."

"Oh." Will was hurt. He thought Nico enjoyed his company. Turns out he was wrong. "Monday then."

Nico must not have picked up on the drastic drop in enthusiasm. He may even have been pleased for all Will knew.

"Yah Monday. Bye."

Nico cut off the connection and all Will was left with was a long beep, and besides the hurt he felt, there was a feeling he had never felt before.

It was like happiness and joy mixed together, and a longing. A longing to meet Nico in face. And a wanting. A wanting to feel Nico, touch his fingers again, to feel his palm against his own. It was beautiful, so beautiful.

It felt like how he felt for his mum, but different. He didn't long to touch his mum, but Nico… Nico was different. A different feeling. He just wanted to feel his skin, to see him smile.

He was haunted by images of his smile. He loved his smile.  
_

Nico checked the address again and looked at the slip of paper Zu had given him. It was the right place. Based on the place she lived in, Nico could guess she was about as wealthy as he. From the marble that lined the exterior of the walls to the million-dollar diamonds that were carefully embedded in the doorknob of the house...every single detail screamed riches.

The door flung open even before he knocked and Nico took a quick step backwards to stop himself from being hit by the door.

Zu was giving him a small sweet smile.

"Hi Nico. You're early." He heard the shrieks of a girl from inside and raised an eyebrow at her. Zu shrugged.

"They were earlier." She ushered him in. The laughter was getting louder with each step they took and Zu gave Nico an apologetic look.

"They always get a bit rowdy." She crossed her arms and Nico could see that she was wearing the blouse they had bought that day. "But especially so at my house. Mama gets so angry when they come but only shows it when they leave."

Nico couldn't help but ask. "Where's your daddy?"

"He left us when i was eleven." Zu said in a cheerful tone, but her eyes gave her away.

"Sorry for asking." Nico replied, knowing that he had indirectly caused some tension to linger in the air.

"It's fine. How could you not be curious?" Zu said. Nico hung his head.

"I'm not accustomed to talking so much usually so words come out more cutting than their meant to be."

Zu didn't respond but she had this faraway look in her eyes.

"We're here." She pushed open the door and feigned a smile, but Vida saw right through it. She looked to him and arched her eyebrows to their limit. With a small shake of the head, Nico motioned for her to lean in slightly.

"Tell you later." He whispered then turned to the rest of the group.

And he, too, put on a fake smile.  
_  
Vida cast Nico another glance as she fiddled with his hair playfully. They were dyeing it a violet-ish indigo colour, with white streaks every now and then. To be honest, di Angelo pulled it off pretty well.

He suddenly groaned. While still dyeing his hair, Vi watched him turn around in his seat.

"You really wanna know?" Nico forced out, to the confusion of the gang. Vida nodded vigorously. She had been waiting so long her little patience was being chipped at slowly.

"Yeah. And i think everyone of us here deserves the truth as much as i." Vida stated. Nico sighed. Vida guessed he must not have been expecting to have to tell such a big audience.

She let the remainings of the dye in her hands go to his hair and let her hands drop. She pulled the swivel chair from behind her and plopped down into it, patting the empty space beside her. Candice sank into it and rubbed her tired legs. Zu took the seat beside Nico, who gave her an anxious look. Zu brushed it off.

"You're gay. Not like we'd get into a relationship anyway." She said brightly. As brightly as she could. Vida coughed to get back their attention. Sheila and Chiara let their heads rest against the backrest of her seat and Kyria leaned against the wall to their right.

"You girls are probably gonna kill me...but i may or may not have asked about Zu's father's whereabouts. They stood still for a while, frozen. Vida considered this. She had been expecting something way more severe.

Zu breathed out heavily. "I guess this was negligence on our part."

Vida turned her gaze to Nico who gave her a tilt of the head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I suppose we should have asked you whether or not you even wanted to join this clique. It's just that we have observed you in class and you're sooo cool and funny i guess we didn't really consider your opinion. Well, we know you're an introverted person who doesn't like socialising much so… we're giving you an option."

Zu took a deep breath but Vida continued for her. "We wanna ask you if you wanna be in this clique." She simplified.

Without even a moment of hesitation, Nico answered. "Well of course i wanna be in this thing."

Zu gave a smile so relieved even Vida, who hadn't been nervous until then, heaved a sigh of relief. She stood up.

"For introductory reasons, it's probably a good idea to give you a proper representation of Vida, aka Vi, aka me." She cleared her throat. "I am in love with hair dyes, especially blue." She twirled the blue tips of her hair.

"I like all types of food and people say i hit others real hard. As in strength. I have this affinity with knives and weapons that i can't even understand. Dad was a total bastard, abandoning us when i was conceived. I'm fifteen in four months." Vida sat back down.

Zu took over. "I'm Zu and from Japan, full name is Suzume. Lived in Singapore half my fifteen years alive. Love yellow and all kinds of things related to suns. Wish i could dye my hair yellow too but Mama said that it would remind her too much of Daddy." Zu sounded a little despondent at the end of her explanation and Nico, after a moment's thought, slung an arm around her but withdrew it as soon as her facial expressions picked up.

Candice carried on. "Candice here, but everyone calls me Can Die. Asshole of a mum who left us when i was not even one. Love plants, greenery, nature...typical giddy schoolgirl basically. I love to eat wheat and find eating grass actually nice. I know i'm weird but it really does taste good." Nico scrunched up his nose. Vida supposed he found Candice about as weird as she did.

" 'm Chiara. Weird ass shit, people call me. If you can't already tell by now, parents are literal bitches. Mum left me with nothing, not a family or sibling. Wondering on the street since baby age until Zu took me in. Her Mama is basically my Mama now and she's really nice. Zu is the best sister and all. Somehow, though i was really young, i escaped homelessness unscathed, thank god." Chiara hugged Zu's shoulder and played with her hair.

Kyria and Sheila had pretty much the same kind of family history and didn't bother to elaborate much. Vida looked at Nico, who seemed more and more jumpy by the minute. She knew he hated speaking, but was it really that frightening of a task? Vida smiled at Nico warmly as Sheila spoke her last sentence.

Vida sighed. At last, she could finally get to know more about Nico di Angelo.

Nico cracked his knuckles under the pressure. Zu put an arm around him softly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Nico looked to Vida, who frowned at her but didn't say anything.

"No, i should." He relented. "I'm Nico di Angelo. Oddly, like you, my family structure sucks."

He inhaled before continuing. "I was born in Italy, Venice. My dad...he was," Nico tried to find an appropriate word. "Absent. I grew up with my mum and sister-biological sister-but then they died uh…"

Nico paused. If he hadn't been to the lotus casino, how many years ago would it have been that Maria died? She died when he was young, and due to Nico's blurry memories, his best guess was when he was six.

"My mum died when i was...six, hence leaving my sister and i in a...shall we say, inappropriate place for children and adults alike." Chiara scowled.

"Why would she leave her children at wherever that was?"

"She had no choice. It was a decision made by my dad. Honestly, now that i think back, it wasn't as bad a choice as leaving us out in the open." Chiara's red face toned back down to its normal peachy colour then flushed pink with embarrassment.

"Sorry." Nico waved it off.

"I used to think that way too, but i've grown out of it. No use clinging on to old burdens. Anyway, then about three years back, my sister died, and i was hit with many new...problems. My parentage and all."

He rested his hands on his knees and let his palms dig into the flesh. His fingers found their ways up his jacket sleeves and he rubbed his old/new scars. "Then i found my half-sister who my dad had with a mort-i mean, with another woman." Nico cursed at himself at the minor slip-up. Had he not collected himself in time, his secret would have been spilled.

"All in all, family's okay now." Nico pressed his lips together in an attempt to smile. He was glad he wasn't treading on dangerous grounds now. He cleared his throat. It was beginning to get awkward.

"Ok then other than that, i like black, dead roses, sad poetry, dark hoodies, basically everything that feeds your 'emo boy' theory of me." He said and Vida snorted.

"Was pretty obvious." Nico smacked her arm.

"Yes it was, but gods, i was expecting a more...profound statement." Vida rolled her eyes.

She bowed. "Oh yes yes dear Angel. Thank you for your oh so lovely lengthy explanation of your life and likes. It was certainly one of the most exhilarating rides of my life, goi-" Nico groaned.

"No need for such a statement. You know what? Whatever." He flicked the remaining strands of his un-dyed hair.

"Can we continue?" Chiara smirked.

"The boys are gonna kiss your feet when you go back to school."

Suddenly, Nico felt the will to smile, to laugh, to be a normal teenager with good friends and fun times. It seemed he had found where he belonged, a place where no one was put off by his sexuality. A place where he could find joy, and where joy could find him.

He felt his hands raise against his better judgement, and he took Zu's hands. Had he been a straight, it would have been extremely uncomfortable for onlookers, but everyone here was fine with him being a gay.

"Thanks for everything."

Zu shook her head.

"Thank you, or we wouldn't have found such a great addition to this friend group."

Nico touched the ends of his hair. It was soft yet spiky. He shuddered. He was definitely going to get a scolding from the discipline master for his 'fancy' hairstyle. He shrunk into his jacket. It was a black jacket (as expected of him) with silver stripes lining the hem. The girls had bought it for him and he loved it.  
_  
"Nico di Angelo." He froze and turned around, thinking up the possible scenarios where the person calling him was not the discipline master. He stared back at the furious face of the, guess who, discipline master. Shit. He was fuming.

"It is only the second week of school here and you're blatantly flouting the school rules." He stated.

"I am aware of that." Nico assured him, which only seemed to anger him even more.

"Do you have any reasoning for this?" He seethed. "Any proper reasoning?" He added.

"Well…" Nico scratched the back of his neck. "I...um...I…"

The discipline master frowned and tapped his foot on the floor. "Hm?" He prompted. "Do you?"

Nico wanted to just say that he wanted to have fun and party and whatnot but he decided against it. He hung his head. "I-uh…"

He felt an arm around his neck and a friendly hit at the back of his head. "I made him dye it." Zu said. "Mr. Ho." She added as an afterthought.

"What are you doing here?" Nico muttered under his breath such that only Zu could hear. "You're gonna get yourself fucking killed."

Zu bristled at the comment and stared defiantly at Mr. Ho, so his name was. "I did it. I forced him into dyeing it."

Mr. Ho glared at Nico. Nico put his arms up to defend Zu from punishment. "Nononono she's spouting bullsh-i mean, nonsense. Don't take any heed. Just punish me for all i car-wait no, i mean just accord me the right punishment." Nico cursed at himself at the number of slip-ups he had made in just three sentences. It was quite a big number. Of mistakes, that is.

Mr. Ho folded his arms. "Which one of you is telling the truth here?" He snapped.

"I am!" They both yelled in unison and glared at each other. Nico pinched Zu's fingers.

"I am telling the truth. She is lying." Nico choked out as the grip around his neck tightened. Mr. Ho either took no notice of that or he chose to ignore it. He clicked his pen.

"Detention for you, Nico." Nico sighed and succumbed to his fate. "And you too, Suzume, for lying." Nico's ears perked up at the statement. He curled his hands into fists and would have lunged at Mr. Ho and his smug face if not for the restrain Zu had on him. He stopped himself but the fury did not calm.

"Fine." He spat. He turned to Zu and smacked her head as they walked away.

"You are such an idiot!" He snarled at her when they were out of earshot. "You didn't have to do anything. You could have gotten off the hook!" He said. He ran his fingers through his bright coloured hair.

"Dang it Zu. I'm so sorry i dragged you into this mess. I...i shouldn't have."

Zu looked quite alarmed. "What? No! None of this is your fault." She soothed.

"It is my fault! I-this...oh my gods! Why am i such a burden to everyone i meet?!" He wailed in frustration.

"Nico. Please. This is just a small matter."

"No it's not and Will is gonna kill me…"

She linked her arms through his despite the vigorous struggle he put up against it. He scowled at her but she didn't even flinch under his glare.

"Come, Nicki, let's go eat some breakfast." Nico stopped his struggling and gave her a do-you-mind look.

"Don't call me Nicki." He grumbled, trying lazily to get out of Zu's linked arms.

But if he were to be true to himself, he quite liked the touch of a person's skin against his.


	18. Chapter 18

"You got detention?" Will half-yelled. Nico nodded.

"Yeah." He replied. He pushed his chair nearer to Will.

"We still have to do the project thing." Nico said dryly. "And you're supposed to tutor me today, or whatever."

Will sighed. "Okay then. You go for your detention. Or maybe…" Will considered his decisions. Nico looked to him, his chocolate brown eyes hardened.

"Or? What are you gonna do then?"

Will's shoulders sagged. He had an idea, but he was sure Nico wouldn't be pleased by it. He decided not to tell.

"Just try to listen in class today then, okay?" He mumbled, so soft Nico leaned in to hear. His ears touched his, and Will was surprised when Nico didn't cringe or shiver. His ear was soft and cold, a nice chill against his burning hot skin.

"Okay." Nico agreed and all too quickly drew back. Will felt the air leave his mouth in a deflated sigh. Will very much preferred it when Nico was annoying him. At least it was some sort of interaction. He tossed his eraser mindlessly into the air. Every so often, he'd glance at Nico, eyes sparkling and mouth slightly ajar, presumably listening to the teacher with rapt attention. Will's thoughts drifted

Will felt a soft tap on his finger. "You gotta pen? I forgot to bring mine." Nico fiddled with his bangs and tugged at the white streaks. Will was awed. He never thought someone could pull off such a look so effortlessly.

"Uh yeah. Colour?" Will shook his head. He felt dumb just asking that. He really did not know how to initiate any kind of conversation.

"Black." Nico answered simply and leaned over to take his pick when Will didn't respond.

"You okay?" Nico waved his hand in front of Will.

"You dyed your hair." Nico's cheeks turned a shade lighter than the roses outside.

"Yeah. The girls helped me with it." Nico said. Will tensed up. So that was what he had been doing with the girls over the weekend. Aka the reason why Nico was unavailable to him for him to learn how to cycle.

"May also be the reason why i'm going for detention later." Nico added. But Will wasn't listening. He was too busy looking at the way Nico brushed his long hair back behind his ear and let the pen rest in the gap between it. His hair shone in a way Will never thought possible, with such radiance.

Will only realised the bell had rung when Nico scribbled his last few words on the paper and returned Will his pen.

Zu came over, as bouncy as usual. "Hey i have a date with Roman today after school so i can't be there with you during the detention."

Nico lightly hit her head and tossed some of her long braids over her head. "See? You shouldn't have gotten the detention in the first place you idiot." Zu looked at him from under her curtain of hair.

"Okay okay. I'm sorry. Now earlier, when i dragged you out for breakfast, you didn't eat." Will watched her as she puffed up her chest. "It's my duty as a friend to watch you eat now."

Zu turned to Will and waved. Then she returned to Nico. "Now Nicks, time to eat."

Nico looked disgusted by the name and his little bunny nose wrinkled. "Don't call me Nicks."

He put his hands into his new jacket and walked off. Or was about to. Will stared at his retreating figure and wondered what made this girl stand out so much to Nico. Was it that she was pretty? Or was it because she was popular? Will didn't see himself inferior to her in any way.

Nico whipped around and whispered something to Zu, who nodded slightly and a small smirk crossed her lips.

"Anyway can't go with you to eat today i'm afraid." Nico gave his quick two-finger wave from his forehead outwards toward Zu and Zu shrugged. Nico advanced in Will's direction, and Will suddenly felt his fingers itching to move around. He tapped his thighs idly throughout the whole span of Nico's short walk, getting faster and more random as the milliseconds passed.

Will barely felt the featherlike touch of Nico's fingers against his forearm and he had to look down to confirm it. Oh gods, what was this euphoria building up inside of him? This whole new level of ecstacy he had never felt before consumed him. All because of one small touch on Nico's part.

Nico's hair fell over his eyes as he tilted his head toward the cafeteria. Will wanted to brush it away so that he could fully appreciate the deep brown eyes that hid behind them. But he refrained himself just in time.

"Wanna have breakfast with me?"

"Of course." Will managed without a stutter. "My treat."

"I'm not hungry." Will crossed his arms and Nico felt like relenting. But he didn't.

"At least have a toast. You're so skinny!" Will whined.

"No. I already told you Will. I've been a glutton for too long and it's time to shake off these fats. And you said ok when i told you i was dieting!"

Will gestured wildly with his hands. "I didn't think you were being serious."

Nico folded his arms. "Oh i was. I was being very serious." Will glared at Nico. Nico smirked. Stare-downs were his kind of match. Perhaps maybe too much.

He glared back at Will, but over a span of about ten seconds, his glare melted into a soft gaze. Will's eyes were a piece of abstract art. An ombre of colour, and Nico even spotted a small rainbow at the corner of his eye.

Nico blinked and looked at it again, but it was gone. "Why did you have a rainbow in your eye?" Will's eyebrows drew together and shifted his eyes to try to look at where Nico was pointing.

"I don't know. Trick of the light?" Will said awkwardly. Then Nico realised he was much too close to Will. He could feel his breaths at the tip of his finger, and their noses were mere inches from colliding.

Will laughed stiffly as Nico drew back and steered the conversation smoothly back on track. "Or it could be something from Iris. Trying to expose my sexuality or something."

Nico didn't know what to say. "Your sexuality…?" Will waved it off.

"Modern day thing. Rainbows kinda connotate the meaning of homosexuality." Nico nodded slowly and mumbled to himself.

"No wonder the Iris children have been trying to paint my nails rainbow." Will thanked the lady as she came over with his food.

"Huh?" Will said between bites.

"Nothing." Nico covered up quickly. "Wanna do some tutoring now?"  
_  
"So i draw the line like this?" Nico drew the thin line on the paper cutting diagonally across the circle.

Will's head jerked up and he mumbled something under his breath that Nico did not catch. Nico frowned and waved his hand in front of Will. Will was unresponsive. His eyes were concentrated on nothing and everything, seemingly taking in anything he saw.

"Hey. Hey!" Nico reached over the table to slap Will on the cheek. His hand left a red imprint on his skin, and Nico winced at the mark. Will looked as if jolted awake from his dreamscape land and brought a hand up to touch his cheek.

"Sorry." Nico apologised. "You weren't responding and i didn't know what else to do." Will tousled his own hair and shook it.

"Nah it's okay…" Nico fiddled with his fingers and picked his head up to stare at Will. The longer he stared, the more he realised that if he joined the freckles on his face in a certain way, he looked just like the constellations high up in the sky. Nico's adhd mind wandered off to think about applying glow-in-the-dark paint on each of his freckles then turning off all the lights in the room. His face would light up like a jack-o-lantern, but in a nice way. In an almost dreamy way.

He shook his head as he felt skin the heat of burnt coal touch his, and he traced the arm up to Will's body. His arms had this tanned glow to it that only made the blue in his eyes more bright. And the way he always found the right spot to hold Nico's wrist just made his spine tingle.

"I guess you're okay with touching now?" Will asked, a bit of forced cheerfulness in his tone. Nico scrunched up his nose, and Will's eyes glazed over all over again.

"I practice selective contact." Nico answered, unsure whether or not Will was even listening. "Dumbass." He muttered when Will didn't respond again, but that insult held a more affectionate tone.

Nico moved his left arm with Will's hand on it and Will blinked his eyes.

"Oh yeah draw it more straightly." Will added, and with his right arm, Nico tried to reach into his pencil case to take out a ruler.

"You know you can use both arms to search right?" Will said and let go of his hand. Nico nodded dumbly and hesitantly raised his other arm up to look for the ruler. Nico opened his mouth to say something but found himself at a loss for words. He wished Will didn't let go of his hand, so he didn't have to place it again properly and adjust it till it was just right, and Nico rathered he didn't remove his hand in the first place so that the heat would be at the same place on his wrist.

Fear twisted in his heart. This feeling was all too familiar, and even if Will didn't know what it was, he couldn't tell him. Nico...he liked Will. Or no, maybe he didn't like Will. Maybe he found him just funny and humorous and a great company. After all, that was why he had told Zu that he had something on and couldn't eat with her. Absolutely why. Nico tried to calm down.

But he was scared. He was very scared. He didn't want to fall so deep in it he couldn't pull himself out. He didn't want this friendship to be like his self-harm. What he once told himself a temporary stress-reliever had turned out to be a habit, a habit he resorted to when things were tough, when Percy rejected him, when life threw him lemons, and limes and deaths and...love.

He had thought he liked Percy too, but he was wrong. He was so wrong. And the end product of his one-sided love was a friendship more fragile than glass. He didn't want that with Will. He wanted to still be able to call him a moron with both of them knowing he was just kidding. He wanted to find the will to smile and fake a laugh for his happiness. He wanted Will to be able to hold his hand like it was nobody's business.

Nico threw his bag onto the floor when he couldn't find the ruler. Life found great pleasure in giving him a horrible time.

"Hey are you okay?" Nico didn't hear Will. But he heard other things, other voices.

"Percy wasn't enough for you?" A voice rang. Nico looked around in a frenzy, not giving a shit about what anyone thought of him anymore.

"Stop it. I…please…" Nico whispered, the spark of anxiety never leaving the flame in his eyes. He pulled his bag to his chest and stood up, but it was like he had held his breath for too long, and he was dizzy.

The sensation began to devour him whole, but Nico would not let them. He pushed his body forward and half-ran out. His fingers curled around the blade in his pocket. He recoiled suddenly, like he had run into a brick wall.

No. How could he even harbour such a thought? How could he want something so nonsensical to give him the pleasure of release? Nico slapped his wrist.

But what could he do? What made him want to even go on with life? What drove him? Why had he just not finished it off already?

He had his afterlife all planned out already. Everything would go well once he was in Hades' realm. He was going to be lieutenant, his own father's lieutenant.

The answer was like cold water doused on him. Will. That was the reason for all of this. Nico crumpled to the floor.

He couldn't let that self-loving jerk change him. That moron had no hold on his life. How could Nico allow that all-too-perfect playboy decide on his existence?

Nico had no other thoughts at the moment as he willed himself off the floor and he ran to the bathroom. There were a couple other boys there who gave him questioning looks as he went in looking just like a well-dressed beggar.

Nico felt the stares at his back, and the voices rose again.

He tore at his hair. "What? WHAT? What is it now that you want from me? Why can't you just let me suffer alone in peace?!" Nico practically fell into the cubicle behind him, and his head hit the rim of the seat.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. And Nico didn't remember much after that. All he remembered was the sticky redness that trickled down the behinds of his ears down to his neck. He even recalled shutting the door, and taking out his knife.

He brought the knife to his wrists.

And that was all he remembered.


	19. Chapter 19

Will sat still at the table, his plate in front of him. Nico was known for running, but Will never got around knowing why.

He got up from his seat. He was shaken. He had not yet quite comprehended what was going on. He felt eyes bearing into his back.

"He went that way." Will whipped around toward the voice.

"What?" The girl shrugged.

"You are going to look for him aren't you?" She pointed toward the direction of the exit. "He went that way."

Will didn't have time to think. He heard the lady at the counter calling him from behind but Will didn't turn. Not even once. As of right then, Will didn't have time to pay for his food.

His friend was on the loose, and he was going to look for him. He ran past the toilet, past classrooms, looking into one every now and then. He was getting breathless. The wind from the fan made him dizzy. He turned around, thinking maybe he had missed something.

He ignored the burning feeling in his thighs as he continued his search. He had not worked out much even before the wars. He was a healer, not a warrior. But he could do a run.

But not one like this. He ran out to the middle of the field. He looked around him, behind him, to his sides. Everywhere. There was no trace of him. None at all.

He was in despair. There was not much time before someone came to haul him to class. He bent forward to rest his palms on his kneecaps and his fingers tapped them haphazardly.

"Nico di Angelo! Where are you!?" Will yelled at the sky desperately. Perhaps even if no one heard him, the gods would.

"Will?" Will turned around and shook the person, whoever it was, by the shoulders. The person struggled.

"Dude! I'm not Nico!" The person shouted, her voice muffled. Will let go of the person immediately and stuck his hands into his pockets awkwardly.

Zu looked at him, bewildered. "I was going to ask you where Nico was cos i needed his help but…" Zu peered behind his shoulder. "Seems like you don't know where he went either."

Will opened his mouth to speak but he felt a force from behind. "Move it. Go to class now." Will gulped. This sounded very much like Mr. Ho. He spied Zu from the corner of his eye. She had given up on wriggling. Will let the muscles at the back of his neck loosen up and hung his head.

"Sorry. We were…" Will tried to explain himself but he guessed Mr. Ho. wasn't having any of it. He decided to save his energy. He pressed his lips to form a thin line.

They were dragged into class and got a curt nod at them. They silently walked back to their seats and Will glanced up at Nico's seat. He wasn't there. Will was expecting it, but it was always nice to hope.

He listened with half an ear. It was science, and Will could do just fine without the learning content. He kept his eyes on his hands and played with the black pen Nico had used. It was slightly smeared with traces of pencil marks probably from Nico's fingers. Will knew he enjoyed drawing.

Will glanced at his table again. But this time, he saw a small piece of paper jutting out. Stealing a glimpse at the teacher, he snatched the sheet as his back was turned.

He quietly unfolded the paper, feeling guilty as he did so. He didn't want to invade Nico's privacy, but Will reasoned with himself saying that Nico may have left a clue inside the paper.

It turned out to be a note in italian. Will sighed and shoved it back under Nico's desk. He needed to find a clue worthy of being used, but there were no results.

His head snapped up at the sound of the clicking of the door. Will wanted to squeal.

Oh gods. There Nico was. His hair an absolute mess and his gaze low, but still in one piece.

Will saw the teacher outside call for the science teacher and they talked a bit. Will waited for Nico to go to his seat but Zu pulled a seat beside her for Nico and he obediently sat down.

Will was crushed. Had he done something wrong to cause this?  
_

Nico hunched back to his normal form. His hands were a bloody red, just like the endlessly deep pits in Tartarus. Nico shivered with disgust at his own self. He was such a letdown. He staggered out. The alley was deserted. Not a single soul around. He checked the time. He must have passed out. There was no way he could just suddenly come to consciousness like that.

He stumbled over to the sink and washed his hands of the blood. He removed his jacket and wrapped it around his hands when the bleeding didn't stop. The jacket was soaked in blood but he could easily wash that off. Like he had done so many times before. The most important thing was that he wasn't leaking red stuff anymore.

He vaguely heard a voice calling him from the distance but he didn't respond. He was too busy concentrating on not falling over his two feet and slipping on the seemingly uneven ground. A force stopped him from falling over in time.

He faintly muttered a small word of thanks and carried on his way, but the person followed.

"Who are you?" Nico mumbled coherently despite his current state.

"Mr. Chia. Your math teacher." The voice, Mr. Chia, said apprehensively.

"Okay. Thank you." Nico heard Mr. Chia scoot over to support Nico.

"Hey are you alright?" Nico couldn't hold back a bite.

"Do i look alright to you?" Mr. Chia shrugged but didn't reply other than that.

"Let's bring you to the class yeah?" Nico didn't feel like going home so he agreed. He would have to answer to Hazel if he did so. He didn't have the strength to answer so he gave a nod, hoping that Mr. Chia wouldn't take too much notice to this.

They reached the classroom and classes were in full swing. Nico suddenly felt like backing out.

"Again, Nico? Weak." The nagging voice at the back of his head said, and for once, Nico actually willingly agreed.

He couldn't bring his eyes up to meet Will's, so he turned the bend and walked to the empty seat beside Zu. He didn't want to deepen his affection for Will. It would only hurt him. Nico bit his lip.

Zu placed an arm around his shoulder comfortingly. "Nico Nico...where'd you go?" Nico refused to answer. He, instead, rested his head on her shoulder and shut his eyes. The world was spinning around him again.

He felt Zu patting his head nicely. Roman was sitting right beside her holding her hand add if to say that Zu was his. Roman had made it a point to become a permanent resident at Zu's side after the confession. But it was okay. Not line Nico would want to steal Zu from him or anything.

"What happened?" Zu probed again.

Nico didn't wash to show. He really didn't. But Zu managed to force him into it.

"I...i…" He tried to explain himself as he showed her the cuts. Zu's face was an image of horror, and pity. She sat stiffly on the seat, probably unsure of what to do. Nico pushed the sleeves back down.

"I knew it. Nobody would want to even go near me if i-" Zu cut him off with a tight hug. Nico felt tears wetting his jacket and he brought his hands up slowly to wrap around her body. She was warm, so warm.

"I have to get help for you...i must…" Zu muttered to herself into Nico's jacket. Her voice was soft and muffled, but Nico could hear her clearly. He pushed her back slightly.

"No...please Zu...don't tell anyone…" Nico pleaded and squeezed her hands in his. "Please…" Nico tried again.

"Nico, let me help you...i want to…" Zu said. She blinked the last of her tears away and cupped Nico's face. Nico shook his head.

"No…" Nico attempted. Somehow, despite all that had happened, no one really paid much attention to him. Or them. Other than Will. Nico could see Will straining his neck to see what was going on but Nico had smartly positioned himself such that Will would have no way of finding out.

Zu probably sensed that arguing about this would send her nowhere other than out of Nico's mind. "Why?" Zu asked.

Nico didn't pick his head up at all. "Because i only cause the ones i love harm." Nico played with Zu's nails.

"So in other words, you fancy someone." Nico reached up to clamp her mouth shut.

"Well yes, but that's also the reason for…" Nico jerked his head toward his arms. "I will only bring him pain and suffering."

Zu combed through his hair soothingly. "What makes you say that?"

"Because that's exactly what happened with my family. And my first crush." Nico said dully, his tone flat and emotionless. Zu mouthed an "ooh" and didn't say anything anymore.

Nico scratched mindlessly at his scars, the ill sensation dashing away. He hasn't noticed that the teacher had gone out to speak to Mr. Chia. He hadn't noticed the people inching nearer and nearer to his seat. But he noticed Will.

He saw the sad glint in his eyes and the mask of nothingness he had put on. He noticed that his usually shaking leh was still, and there was no tapping of his fingers.

Nico licked his dry lips. He must have hit Will harder than he thought.

He hardened his gaze and got up to get a letter of excuse from school that day.

Because sometimes, what had to be done had to be done.

Zu tried to stop him and sit him back down but it was to no avail. Nico knew that if he stayed any longer, he'd become an uncontrollable mess.

He called or to the teachers, but neither gave a proper response. Nico could already feel the tears stoning his eyes. He hosted his bag up his back and ran for the gate out of school.

This time, he didn't hear anyone chasing him. All he heard was silence and the thumping of his heartbeat.

He was getting closer. Closer to the exit to freedom. He exited. Now he could cry freely.

He slowed his pace and let his emotions take over. It was raining, and the droplets hid his tears.

He cried. He used to feign happiness because he was disappointed. Disappointed with the world, with his father, with Will, and himself. He thought he could do better. He thought that moving was a good idea. He thought that he could love. He thought...he thought...he thought. But he thought wrong.

He was always wrong. He was incapable of doing anything right. He was a sore loser, a person who cared too much about ego, about reputation, about what others thought about him. He thought he could love without hurt. He thought love could be perfect as just 'love'.

But now, when he smiled, it hurt more than when he cried. When he looked at Will, he already knew he made a mistake. A mistake he would take years to get over.

The rain hit him relentlessly, and people pushed past him with umbrellas in their hands. He felt colder than before, he felt numb, then he felt nothing at all. His senses completely shut down, and his tears just stopped.

He wasn't a person. He was a nobody. He was the nobody everyone avoided, everyone overlooked. He was extra. He was not needed at all. A useless waste of space.

He reached his home. He stared at the marble door frame and stepped into its shadow.

He reappeared inside his room. The lights were off, and Frank had gone back to camp to tell everyone that they weren't captured or anything. Frank had said that he had been getting IMs and decided it was a good idea to show up at camp and calm everyone down.

He fell onto his bed and blasted music through the speakers the Hermes kids had given him. It was loud, very loud. But he had soundproof doors so it was not an issue.

The music blocked out all other sounds. He usually put music on to hear himself think or just so he could fully embrace the beauty of the songs.

Contrary to what most others thought, he liked slow songs that actually captured what he was feeling at the moment. Most of the time, it was "I'm not okay" by Chen or "Rain" by a kpop group (I'm not going to state which group cos then yall gonna say I'm doing shameless promotion for them or I'm some kind of crazy teenage fangirl).

He let the music fill his ears. Tears returned to his eyes all over again. He wanted to feel like the same young innocent child from ages ago.

He brought his wrists up to his line of sight and he unsheathed his other knife from his belt.

It gleamed with a bright glaring glow, probably to try to make Nico want to shun away from what he was going to do, but when did that ever stop him?

Never.


	20. Chapter 20

Zu didn't know what to do. She wanted to tell Will. He was one of Nico's closer friends-no, crush-and Zu felt he deserved to know. But she indirectly made a promise already, and it would be wrong to just break it like that.

She had watched as Nico ran out of the classroom and she could almost swear she heard him crying. She bit her lower lip. Nico really needed help. She couldn't just leave him in the ditch like that just because he was more unstable than most of her friends. She had made that clear to herself already during the first few moments when realisation of the harsh reality about Nico came crashing down on her.

Nico had come across as a cute and cool boy, but the way he was tormenting himself and giving himsekd unreal standaeds told her otherwise. She looked beyond what people usually judged others by, and inside, she saw a life. A beautiful life that was not to be deemed good just because he looked the part, but because he actually had a n8ce pers9nality.

Nico was, to most people, a cold person totally out of everyone's league but he was really just like them. He was human, and he made mistakes too. He wasn't perfect. No one was.

Zu wanted to run after him, but Mr. Chia came in along with Sir. Reuben. Her lips trembled. She feared Nico was going to continue with his self-destructing behaviour. She looked to Will. He was having trouble focusing on the lesson. She wanted to beckon him over to her side so that she could properly tell Will what was going on.

Then came the conflict again. Nico was definitely going to kill her. That meant that Nico wouldn't have anyone there to help him. In addition, she wasn't sure Will would be hands-on about this situation. Form what she knew, it was likely to be the case, but she had learnt from young that appearance only counted for one thing.

But surely Nico would like it if his crush helped him overcome this. For all she knew, he would even be grateful. Anyway, if Will didn't like Nico back or was a straight, Nico would find it equally devastating and Nico, well, if that was the case, nothing would change. If she didn't do anything, nothing would happen either. But if Will happened to like Nico back, then at least there was that benefit.

She turned to Roman. He had been there throughout Nico's whole confession but Roman tended to space out pretty easily. He was never a nosey person. She inhaled deeply and slowly began to give him a brief overview of the current case. Roman didn't seem too stunned at first then she came to the self harm part. She swore she saw some trace of sympathy for Nico in his eyes.

"So I'm gonna tell Will. You with me on this?" She asked Roman for his consent and he nodded after sometime.

With a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself for the screaming she would suffer when Nico found out about this.

"Will. I need to speak to you." Zu said with obvious urgency as she beckoned him over with shaky fingers. Will practically glided across the floor.

"My thoughts exactly." Will answered plainly. He looked so worn out from the hours he had spent likely wondering what had happened. Zu cringed as his once lively blue eyes reflected her own tear-stained ones.

"I...come. Follow me." Zu looked around furtively then dragged both Roman and Will with her to a deserted corner in the school. They each nodded and greeted every teacher as they passed through the corridors, but it was evident that with each word of greeting, Will's masked patience was being chiseled away at slowly.

"So," Zu began again for the second and last time. "Nico has been...finding many troubles in life recently. You know what I mean don't you Will?" Will just looked confused rather than shocked.

"He's been self destructive." Zu raised her eyebrows at Will. If he still didn't get it, Zu was not going to let this boy be her good friend's partner for life. No. Nico deserved better and she already felt guilty enough for not noticing this earlier.

"So he's been…" Will made a hand gesture that went diagonally across his skin. Zu was silent for a second. This was the last chance where she could still back out and spin some kind of story so Will would remain in the dark.

Finally, she nodded. Will's expression was unreadable.

"Please. Help him. I can't do this alone Will." She pulled his collar. "You have to help him through this." Will was unresponsive for a while.

"He doesn't even trust me. He trusts you more." Will hunched his back. Zu put a hand around his back.

For the second time that day, Zu was in a dilemma. She knew that by telling Will that Nico had a crush on him, there was a possibility that he would reject him and not help him, but he could also be overjoyed and run to the ends of the world if he told him to. But then that would ruin the experience for Nico.

"He trusts you more than you think. Even if you don't want to do this for him, do it for me." Zu answered vaguely, internally commending herself for her smarts for once.

Will shrugged, but Zu could see the walls of strength crumbling down as she passed on the secret.

"I'll try, but if I can't, you and I are gonna go to the school counsellor. I...I've had a friend like this before and he ended his life...all because I wasn't there to watch over this. I don't care what you think, or what Nico wants. This is best for him. Agree?" Zu's mind nearly exploded with the whole paragraph of information that Will had filled her with, but she hummed to show her assent.

"Right. Don't do anything to trigger him if he comes tomorrow alright?"

"Yah duh."  
_  
Will couldn't say he was shocked when Nico didn't turn up at school for one or two days after. But after a while, it began to gnaw at his conscience.

It was a full two weeks after Nico had stopped coming to school, and whenever Zu and the gang or Will knocked on his door, he always refused to open. They had tried telling him something funny, something interesting, crying, wailing, whining, pleading, and even getting angry. To add on to the list, Hazel was keeping her mouth shut about the whole situation saying that she had sworn on the Styx not to talk about Nico's attendance, or lack thereof in this case.

Will peeked over the hedge sound the bend. He could see Nico's figure being dragged out of the house by a female figure, probably Hazel. She was saying something to him so heated that Nico yelled back at her loud enough for even Will, who happened to be a good twenty feet from him, to hear.

"You can't control what i want to do, Hazel!" He yelled. That was the first time he had actually heard Nico's voice loud and clear, being projected like one would in a theatre.

"I'm not going to school, and you're not going to be the one to change that." Nico carried on, audibly softer than before, just loud enough for Will to guess what he was saying through the movement of his lips.

Will crouched deeper into the bush. Any wrong move now and Nico would speed back into the house. His knees were scraped and he knew his hair was covered in twigs and fallen leaves. There was a scratch on the back of his hand after he dove back into the bush too quick earlier.

"Why...go to school…" Will barely heard the warm mellow voice of Hazel's say. Will grunted and shifted his weight over to the balls of his feet. His eyes strained to see the scene as they walked behind the oak tree at the front porch.

"Damn the tree." Will muttered then shifted such that he could see the back view of Nico. He shut his mouth once he saw his mouth open to say something.

"...don't wanna...gross…" Will's ears perked up at the sound. It had been ages since the last time he heard Nico speak normally, nicely even. Will pulled his knees nearer to his chest. The school bus was coming soon, and Will would board it.

He was seeing if Nico would be convinced enough to too.

The roaring of the engine of a vehicle sounded and Will sank into the ground. This was it. The second full week of school without Nico's presence. Will feared Zu was not able to take this.

She was so worried. Everyday, the only thing she would talk about was Nico. Nobody after Will found out about Nico's behaviour with the knife, and the burden was really getting heavier and heavier on both of their shoulders. Luckily for Zu, she had Roman as her pillar of support, but Will had none.

The bus honked at him and he scrambled out of the bush before his mum came out to see what was causing the ruckus.

He boarded the bus with heavy and reluctant footsteps. About as heavy as his heart right then. The driver yelled at him to hurry up, but instead of doing so, he sighed and continued his slow pace. The driver looked near to simply standing up and shoving him into his seat.

Will felt so defeated. He had been doing the same thing for the past few days, but it always had the same result. Nico and Hazel would fight, they'd get mad at each other, make up, then fight again. It seemed Nico had not yet told Hazel about his habit.

He slid down the seat and the bus surged forward. His head hit the backrest if the seat in front and he rubbed his forehead. He glared at the driver whose face had on a smug smirk. Damn the driver. Damn the bus. Damn the seat in front of him.

He didn't take any notice when the bus stopped at Nico's home. He wouldn't come on anyway. But what if he did?

Will strained his neck to see on top of the seat in front of him without adjusting his posture. He slid back down into his seat and rolled his eyes when he only saw Hazel. He should have known.

He would have to speak to Zu about this.  
_  
Nico slammed the door shut in Hazel's face and he cringed behind it as he heard Hazel weeping. He was making things hard for them, and he knew it.

But he couldn't tell Hazel the truth about his cutting. It still disgusted him that he had to resort to such a sin when others went along with the flow like everyine did. So why wouldn't Hazel scorn him?

He dove under his covers and heard his stomach rumble. Recently, he had been feeling hungrier than usual. In the past, he had eaten at least a small meal a day to get by, but now he ate nothing.

Cutting no longer helped him. The constant gnawing hunger usually settled the job. It ate away at his intestines, thinning his stomach walls. He only used cutting when he couldn't make himself feel hungry. And when that didn't work, he turned to sticking him finger down his throat to make himself throw up.

Throwing up took more effort and sucked the energy out of him. He was getting rid of the calories he hadn't even eaten. At first, he felt like he was riding on the clouds of euphoria. He could do something others couldn't. He could live without food.

Even Hazel noticed. "You look thinner brother." Her words held concern, but Nico was determined not to expose his little secret.

That had sparked the beginning of their fights. If his ribs stook out before, it did so even more now. If he used to look pale, he now looked like the walking dead.

If asked, Nico would choose Hazel's happiness over her help. He would continue to pretend to be the evil rebellious villain and her the saint.

He beat the area on his body where it called for food. He never felt anything anymore. There was a place beyond pain and suffering, emotions and such. A place where nothing was felt anymore.

He literally dragged his feet across the floor to the bathroom. He hated being so numb.

Subconsciously, his fingers inched down his throat, and he felt the welcoming feeling of throwing up. His chest heaved and heaved. It seemed harder and harder to find things to throw up, like there was no article of food left in his system.

He gripped the sides of the sink and his knuckles faded white. His vision blurred with sweat that slid down his face and into his eyes.

He spent a good half an hour in there, and Frank never noticed. Frank had his own bathroom and never came into Nico's unless he needed anything. It was understandable, since Nico had threatened to kill Frank if he did anything to hurt Hazel.

Funny. He had meant that for Frank, but somehow, the tables were turned and it was pointed at him. He had meant to give Hazel happiness but instead Nico repeatedly hurt her with his unfiltered words that reflected his mental state of health.

Nico turned on the tap and washed the sink clean. He splashed water onto his face and his face tingled with sensitivity. He cupped his hands under the water and filled it as best as he could and wiped his mouth. He turned off the tap and looked at the sink.

It was red. Red with blood. He staggered back. Was it from his hands or his mouth? He tentatively raised his fingers to his lips and felt them. He glanced at his finger. Red. So red. He looked around. Red. Everything was red.

The walls closed in on him. He glimpsed at the mirror. It showed him a boy with a crazed and frenzied glint in his eyes. His head whipped to the door.

Air. He needed air. He crawled towards it and turned the knob. The door swung open and he fell face first. He picked himself up and ran.

He ran to his bed and pulled the sheets up to his chin. He shivered with cold and fear. That couldn't be him. He couldn't go crazy. He couldn't lose his sanity. He couldn't.

His hands inched toward the DC in his room and he picked it up with trembling fingers, then set it down again. Will was probably in school. Why wouldn't he?

He hid under the sheets. This way the demons wouldn't come get him. No they couldn't.

He stayed there for so long he lost track of time. But it must have been a long time for the next time he poked his head out of the sheets was to pick up a call.  
_

"Zu. I wanna ask for your opinion. Nico hasn't been coming to school. I'm thinking I call him and when he picks up, I ask him how he's doing. Based on his tone, I can accurately guess what kinda state he's in. If it isn't good, the next time he comes to school, if he ever does, we have to speak with the counsellor to whisk him away for a session."

Zu's hands flew to her mouth where she held it for a long time. "But we can't. He won't trust us. Then...no…" She shook her head. "This can't be the only way…"

Will put a hand behind his neck. "This isn't confirmed. I thought I could help him but...I can't. Not here. Not at school. In school, only the professionals are trusted to do this." Will said the last part mostly for himself, but Zu caught it.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Will slapped himself internally for that slip-up.

"Nothing. I meant er...hey what's that?" Will saw something behind Zu and pointed at it. It was Roman with a bucketful of water. He scowled at him teasingly.

"Man...dang it." He muttered but puller Zu in for a hug. "Happy April fools day."

She momentarily forgot everything Will said and buried her head in his chest. "To you too." She drew back. "Nico still isn't here."

Roman nodded and smiled thinly. "Next time he comes to school, the counsellor it is." He said. Zu looked to Will.

"Exactly what he said." And Will agreed. "We really should."

After school, Will made his way home and threw himself onto the bed. He heard a knock on the door and hurriedly put his DC down, then remembered that the only person who could actually be there was his mum. Despite all that was happening, he smiled. He could smell the scent of homemade chocolate cookies from behind the door.

He got up and let his mum in.

"I've noticed that you haven't been as perky as usual, William. Care to share?" She murmured warmly and set the plate of cookies down at his bedside. He sighed and shook his head.

He smoothed out the bedsheet and lay down.

"It's complicated, but I'm gonna fix it soon. Don't worry 'bout it mom. Your son's got it."


	21. Chapter 21

"Hello?" Will's stomach fluttered at the sound of Nico's voice.

"Hey Nico." Will answered apprehensively. He tickled his feet.

"What do you want?" Nico said. Will winced at the harshness of the tone. He had been hoping for at least a more friendly opening sentence.

"Just wanted to speak to you. Today at school Z-" But Will was cut off by Nico.

"She told you about my cutting didn't she." Nico deadpanned but Will detected a sense of hope. Will sighed.

"Yah. Are you okay?" Nico moved about on the other end of the line. Will kept his senses up. Being the son of the god of truth, he could tell when one was lying. If he bothered to put his abilities to use, that is.

"Do I sound like it?"

"Well no…" Will began again but was cut short.

"There you have it." There was silence on both ends of the line for a few moments, one that neither was willing to break.

"Did Zu tell you anything else?" Nico asked suddenly and Will was confused by the odd change of topic. Will didn't see the link at all but assumed this was one of the adorably weird kinds of things that son of Hades did.

There he admitted it. Nico was adorably annoying, but nice when he wanted to be. He could be the angel his name suggested or the devil his family desired. For a second, Will wondered what made Nico want to appear so cold and heartless when he obviously wasn't.

"No. How are you?" Will led them back on track. Nico sounded rather disgruntled by the switch back.

"Why?" Nico shifted some more and Will could hear a rustling sound in the background.

"You sound sick." Will picked at a scab on his knee cap as he waited for an answer he wasn't sure he would get.

"Is that your problem?" Nico snapped but it didn't even leave a dent Will's ego. Instead, it prompted Will to ask further.

"Are you still...skinny?" Will's ears twitched after using its powers for too long.

"No…" Nico replied but Will couldn't detect the distinct line between the lie and the truth. Will frowned at the possibilities that it offered, and most of them weren't pretty.

"Are you less skinny?" Will pried. That was literally the only good thing that could come out of Nico's half-truth. His ears gave off a warning sign, and Will hurriedly sped up the interrogation session. Just a little more and his ears would self-combust.

"No…" Nico responded lethargically but honestly nonetheless. Will felt like he had been stabbed, not just his ears but his ribs, his chest, and his heart.

"Thinner?" Will continued, afraid of what he may hear.

"I guess that is what one would call me." It was like Nico no longer cared about cutting through anyone's feelings anymore. Like he no longer bothered to even hide the ugly truth. Will swallowed. That was the perfect example of a depressed child.

"Do you turn to cutting?" Will asked. There really wasn't much worse to what was already going on.

"And a lot more." Nico said bluntly. Will was listening on for a sense of sarcasm, but there was none. He gulped. So there was something way more horrid than the above mentioned.

"You need help." Will said shakily. He must have said something wrong, something that triggered Nico enough to neglect the thick layer of care in Will's voice.

"No you do." Nico hung up.

Will paused for a while, device beside his ear, not fully sure of what had just happened. Then reality came crashing down on him.

He hurled the DC across the room in rage. Nico really did not know or did not care to keep within his limits? Did he truly not care about his health? Will punched the plaster on the wall and a line traced down it. Why was he so mad? He caught his fist just as it launched itself at the wall again. His knuckles were already bloody from the first collision. But then he let it go and punch again.

He yelled in fury. Nico was driving him crazy. No one ever made William Solace crazy. Crazy with anger, with fear, with sadness, abd with joy. No one. But Nico had done it.

Will brought his hand to his other palm and he healed it haphazardly. He shook the tingling sensation away. If Nico was still going to stay away from school, soon, Will wouldn't just be punching walls and healing himself after that. He'd be going straight up to his doorstep and staying there till he got an answer.  
_  
Nico slammed the DC down back to its port. It rattled slightly and nearly bounced out of its place. Sooner or later, he'd have to go back to school anyway. It didn't matter if it was to continue his education or end it, but he'd have to go either way.

Nico smashed his fist against the mattress below him, but it did not give him the sense of satisfaction it should have. All it gave was a small smug 'poof'. It angered him further.

He threw a dirty glance at the hanger that hung on the hook on the door. His uniform. He pushed himself off the bed and tried to reason with himself. Well, it wouldn't hurt to go to school…

But Zu. He fell back onto the bed and hit his forehead. She would have false hope that he was actually going to stay long term. Then he thought about it. What was wrong with staying long term anyway? That set Nico thinking.

Everyone knowing about his habits? Well Will and Zu already found out anyway. Being ostracized as the result? He had been treated like a piece of shit before and gone through worse. Having Zu giving him dirty looks? Honestly, that one made him lick his dry lips. Still okay with it though.

Having Will give him dirty looks? Now that one scared him shitless. That was, truthfully, the only thing keeping him from giving in to Hazel's pleas and begs to return for long-term studies. He knew he wouldn't be able to withstand Will looking at him like a germ. Like the outcast he knew he was. He didn't want to be rejected yet again by his second crush.

He twisted around in his bed. He began to wonder when he actually started to like Will. If he did now that is. The last time he remembered, he hated him to the core. The only person he knew he liked when at school was Zu. Her hands in her pockets, grin on her face with lips ripe like cherries. It was pleasant enough, Nico supposed, if he took the time to consider it.

But for Will, Nico hadn't even realised it was a crush at first, but when he knew, he was in it far too deep. He'd admired the way he wrote his alphabets, always perfectly slanted thirty degrees to the right. The way the graphite on his fingertips smudged on his writing instrument. The way he twirled his pen between his fingers. Nico liked to watch Will become serious when the science or math teacher so much as just set a foot into the room.

At some point, Nico just looked at his habits less and less. He liked the way Will's hair covered his left eye at the perfect angle. He liked the way the light always shone through the curtain of hair in front of his face and the way his freckles were like a constellation on skin. He liked the warm tan shade of his skin regardless the season. And his once too-bright smile just made his day.

It was easy to think of beautiful things about Will. His glowing complexion, his cute little eye twitch, his passion for the arts, how he would always talk way too much about anything and everything, the way he found the good in people so easily too, and how Nico wished Will would for him too. Not just in words, across calls...Nico wanted Will to find him the opposite of what people found in him, what he found in himself.

Nico found himself positioned in front of his sketchbook for the first time in ages. He picked up a pencil and drew an image of Will, his bright blue eyes, such rare beauty…

Nico dropped his pencil on the table and ran a long sharp fingernail across his wrist. His scarred skin peeled open and blood oozed out but he barely took any notice of it. How dare he think like that about a boy. Nico flipped the book shut. Such a disgrace, just like the demons had said. But they weren't demons to him anymore.

They were speakers of the truth. It was disgusting for him to like boys. He was a disappointment. He was a letdown. The 'demons' had never said anything wrong after all. They had been right all along. He was a gross stray mark in his family tree. He should never have even lived this long.

He heard a click from the door downstairs and he opened the door and grabbed a few necessities and raced down. He came face to face with Hazel who had eye bags under her eyes. He suddenly realised the extent of his mistreatment. He was wrong. He was always wrong. He never knew to conform to society's norms. He couldn't bring sadness to his sister anymore. Maybe it'd be better to just end it all. His own sorrow and everyone else's.

He gave her a hug. The last hug, perhaps, she'd ever get from him. The next one would be in the underworld. He pushed her away before he could get lost in the feeling too deep. He had his uniform with him. He had his school supplies with him. Enough to get him by for the last day of school. The last day to say his goodbyes.

He fled out of the house, not too sure of where he was going exactly. Just away from those he loved. His eyes stung with unshed tears. The lurking shadows drew him in, but he pushed them away. Not the best time to ask a hormonal teenager to go home. Especially not when running away. He ran over multiple sticks and stones, and he was almost sure he had run past the same place again and again. But he didn't care.

The shadows twisted visibly and Nico feared onlookers would notice. It bended towards then away from him, like it was mystified yet afraid of the prince's deathly aura. He could faintly hear Hazel calling his name from behind.

But he didn't look back. He couldn't. He would break. He would cease this operation immediately. Hazel hadn't known that Nico was gay, or that Nico was self-harming. Both he and Hazel were from the old ages, and at that time, people were scorned upon for being outcasts like he. Hazel knew that exactly, and Nico couldn't find it in him to tell her himself that homosexuality was coursing through his blood at the very moment.

He ran. He ran in the direction of the sun as it dipped its head below the horizon as it always did every single day. But it tortured him. It blinded him but he couldn't shield his eyes from the glare. It was like looking directly at Will. Or his father. And both stabbed his guts.

He found himself in Zu's neighbourhood. He didn't even know how he got there. He slowed a little and took a look around. He did not find anything familiar. Everything was eerily quiet. There was no sign of life at all. Everything was foreign, other than the house in front of him right then. He contemplated going in, but before he could even knock, the door flew open in his face. Nico took an instinctive step back to prevent himself from having to deal with a crooked nose.

Both parties stared at each other in shock, but Zu broke out of it first. Her eyes drifted to his bag by his side and his own ruffled look. Nico didn't even stop her as she threw herself at him with open arms and pulled him in for an embrace.

And he too, wrapped his arms around her.


	22. Chapter 22

Nico turned away from Zu as they walked out to the front grassy patch. Zu was peering over his shoulder at his arms, but he angled himself well. She wouldn't be able to see anything. Not the news scars that lined his wrists, not the thin frail bones that made up his arm, not the veins that were forced to keep him alive.

"Mama's bringing us to school. Or do you prefer to go on your own…?" Zu probed gently. Nico accented his head.

"I can go there myself. See you there." Nico didn't wait for an answer and pushed his head further into his hood. That was the sole source of comfort he had. Hiding. Hiding like he always did. Nico felt so ashamed at himself.

It was eerily quiet as he made his way into the silence of the isolated alleyway. The voices never came back. Perhaps they knew they had him under their thumb already. Nico shrugged. It didn't matter anymore anyway. No one really cared if he was brainwashed. Either way, Will would only scorn him and avoid him. And there wasn't really much worse than that. Either Will hated his guts or Will wanted to stay away from him, and safe to say, both sucked.

Zu must have left with her mother already for when he turned back, the vehicle was gone. A ball of air left his chest. In all honesty, Nico hadn't planned to walk to school. He was going to shadow-travel. The last bit of thrill maybe. Then he'd leave, once and for all.

Nico pulled his hood back and his long dyed hair popped out. He found his reflection in a puddle. He was an absolute wreck, a mess. Okay fine the coloured hair was lit but nothing much other than that. He kicked at the puddle and stepped on it. The water splashed upwards and wet his pants around the ankles as he made his way to the shadow.

There, he fell headfirst into the darkness.  
_

Will looked to Zu. The counsellor was late for their appointment. He sat in one of the two hard plastic chairs in the air conditioned office. Despite much attempts at squirming, it continued to be uncomfortable. Probably due to what they were there for. He glanced at the girl beside him again, his partner in crime. She still looked unsure and uncertain, the accurate portrayal of Will's feelings right then. Just that he masked it up. He knew how to. He had done so countless times before.

Zu seemed wounded by the decision they had made together. A decision made out of desperation. He and Nico and Nico and Zu, close friends, if not best friends. Now, they just offered each other little words of comfort as they sat stiffly. The gravity of the situation had sunk in.

His jittery nerves heightened his already adhd senses, and he took in everything around him. The smell of pencil shavings and the sight of a way too organised desk. The whole room exuded the junior high school counsellor aura and Will again questioned his, no their, judgement in choosing this total stranger to save their friend.

The counsellor entered full of smiles that Will would have returned if not for his already flustered self. She apologised for being late and sat opposite the two of them, looking at them expectantly. It was as though she was waiting for a story as to how they had won the lottery rather than the sorrow and frustration they had been hiding for so long. Will was washed over by a sense of bitterness. How could everyone remain their happy and contented smiles when people were dying beyond control?

Will was overcome for a moment the fear that had nested in his stomach from the moment he set foot in the room. It was near impossible to imagine how Nico would react when he found out that the two people, likely, he had put so much trust in, had betrayed him.

He could breakdown or be completely emotionless, or he could even leave without coming in. But selfishly, Will thought about how this would affect him.

Would Nico hate him? Would Nico still confide in him? In spite of knowing that Nico would definitely have to undergo a hell lot of pain, comparable to that in Tartarus, Will wondered if we would still even have a desk partner the next day.

Will was in too much trauma to even introduce himself. So he let Zu. She was now so much more composed Will contemplated if she had done this before. And that thought scared him. If a mortal had to undergo so much pain and hurt to get this good, what about Nico? Furthermore, his parents left him at a yoing age and soon after his sister did too.

Then the counsellor looked to Will. Will supposed Zu must have done the necessary introductions already.

"William, why don't you start by telling me why you're here?" She said in a much too sweet tone. Will wondered if this was how Nico felt whenever a person asked about Bianca. He cast one last glance at Zu, and her worn out eyes gave him the confirmation he needed.

As he began to tell Nico's story, his doubt gave way to relief. Carrying the burden of a dying friend was a lot for a demigod to handle, especially so when the boy was Nico. Like an exhausted marathon runner, Will was finally passing the baton on for the counsellor to hold.

In Will's own dazed and broken language, Nico's story was spilled, in the most scorned upon and loathed way. Through a betrayal. Will cringed just at the term.

Will began to talk about how Nico would always have this crazed and distracted faraway look in his eyes, not knowing that right after each conversation, Nico would run to the bathroom and do ghastly things to himself. How Nico talked about going on a diet, cutting up his food into small pieces, totally in the dark that by taking his time to split up his food, ge could eat less.

The guilt rose up Will's dry throat as he related fact after fact. Nico had given them so many clues, but they had never picked up on it. There were so many times before when they could have found out, but they never did.

They, perhaps, had never admitted to themselves that Nico had indeed a very serious problem. They had ignored all the signs as he deteriorated further and further. It was only when they were almost too late that they found something even a little off.

Will explained, from his experience, how self-deprecation walked hand in hand with depression that had closed in on Nico. Will had seen Nico's gaunt cheekbones and dark circles under his eyes and he even heard him admit he had turned to possibly way more dangerous alternatives to cutting. Zu squeezed his hand and he saw that tears had come to her eyes.

That was when Will too began to cry. He couldn't stop his tears as he explained how even he didn't know how to stop Nico. He had reached this lifeless state that terrified Will, and the fear in his voice was plain as Will expressed his concerns about Nico's life.

Over the last call with him, Will had detected the words of one that desired death. From Will's experience, Nico was looking for an escape from the pain and sadness and feelings of inadequacy that never ceased anymore. He must be looking for a way of escape.

His part completed, Will sat back in absolute horror. He had just poured out his secrets, all, to a stranger he had not even known or met prior to this meeting. He had just let the most sacred part of friendship fall before his eyes; trust.

Trust that had taken time, love, good and bad experiences to nurture, destroyed in just half an hour. Destroyed out of helplessness, incapability, albeit the burden neither could bear anymore. He felt weak and hopeless. He hated himself at that moment.

And so did Nico.

He needed no explanation when he was called to the office. He looked to his best friends, sitting side by side, and at the worried look on the counsellor's face. Screams of anguish that tore from his chest supplied the understanding they feared he had.

As he screamed out of relief and hurt, the counsellor gently sent them out of the office, back to class, muting all the noise behind them as she shut the door.

They didn't go back to class immediately, but instead, they travelled dow. endless hallways of the school trying to put together the loose pieces of emoti9nal backlashes in his head. Though he had saved his closest friend's life, he felt nothing like the hero he was told he would feel.

He could feel the overwhelming sadness and fear that encased him, as he was sure his actions had just cost him one of his best (despite oddest) friends he'd ever had. His fingers ran through his hair in raw fury at himself.

He was hardly aware of Zu's hands on his back.

"It's okay William. We did the right thing." Will turned to her and placed his palms on her shoulders.

"Will he be alright?" He asked desperately. Zu looked away, and when she looked back at uim, she had started another bout of tears.

"I don't know...i really don't know…" Zu whispered and fell to her knees. "It's horrible to be in this position, but i, no, we have done the right thing." She picked her limp self off the ground and hugged Will tightly. Will knew he couldn't break in front of others who needed him more, and he put his hands around her neck.

He held on to her until her tears dried. But he wished that the person between his arms was Nico.  
_

An hour later, Nico returned from the office, and he looked at Will, then to Zu.

"Bitches." He muttered, but there was no cutting edge to his words. Instead, Nico looked to Zu. Or where Zu had been. Will looked to Zu, but she wasn't at his side. Zu was at Nico's neck.

"Nico! I'm so sorry...i didn't know what else to do…" But Nico silenced her with a hug.

"Thanks Zu." He said and pulled away, brushing the tears out of her eyes. It was one of his less known weaknesses. If he saw anyone he loved or liked cry, he would feel compelled to too. A rather embarrassing weakness if you asked Nico.

Nico looked to Will. He was still a little disheveled. Nico wrung his hands and looked pleadingly to Zu. Zu must have understood what he was doing for a small smile cracked up on her tear-stained face and she excused herself.

"Will." Nico turned to Will. "Sorry...and thank you." He said and looked down, afraid that Will would catch his blush. Children of Hades' never blushed. Nico didn't want anyone to have any other impression.

"No. Sorry to you. I thought you were gonna kill me for telling on you." Nico shook his head.

"Nah." Silence hung in the air for a while then Noco understood that Will expected an overview of the talk with the counsellor. But Nico was not going to tell it. Instead, he told him what little had come out of it.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go to the therapist that the counsellor called for. See you tomorrow?" Nico cleverly steered the conversation to another track. Will nodded, obviously still feeling guilty for betraying Nico's trust.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow. At my place?" Nico tilted his head to the side. Why would Will invite Nico over?

As if on cue, Will hastily added. "So you can tell me what happened. You know...nothing else." A faint embarrassed smile leaked onto his lips and Nico's ears tinged pink.

"Of course. Nothing else." Nico forced a laugh and Will did too.

"At your place tomorrow. In the afternoon." Nico confirmed.

"Yep." Will looked at his fingers, and if Nico didn't know better, he could have sworn he had seen another blush creep up his cheeks.

"Bye then." Nico said awkwardly.

"Bye."

And Nico couldn't help but think that at that point of time, neither really wanted to say goodbye.


	23. Chapter 23

"Hi Nico, I'm the therapist. Sorry for being late. Caught up in a jam." Nico leaned back and folded his arms.

"Huh." She blushed, possibly embarrassed.

"Yeah sorry bout that. Let's start shall we?" She clipped her hair behind her ear. Nico was overcome by the strong scent of perfume and his nose wrinkled.

"Okay sure…" She smiled and took her clipboard.

"Right. Your father recommended me. Said he would only trust those he knew." She made a gesture with her hand.

Nico shook his head. "You can't know my father. He died." She chuckled and swatted it away.

"Niccolo di Angelo, still don't know me?" Nico was taken aback by the therapist's knowledge.

He did remember deliberately dodging all the questions the counsellor asked with regard to his full name and residence, and the only other way to know his full name was if one knew its origin. The therapist groaned and rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"For the love of Hades, Nico, ALECTO. Can't you recognise me? The furies? Does it not ring a bell?" She leaned forward, and despite her well put together look, Nico saw the infamous glint in her eye that betrayed her true identity.

"Oh Hades. Alecto? What are you doing here?" He asked, still rather astonished.

"Good ol dad said you needed someone to talk to." She sat back in her seat and swiveled the chair about. She idly clicked the pen, and was shocked when the ink came out.

She caught Nico's bewildered (and judging) look. She sighed and put the pen down. "How's your health Nico?"

"Fine." Nico scowled. "Can't you tell I bullshitted my whole way through with the counsellor?"

Alecto sighed. She shook her head. "I'm not joking Nico. You do need help. I don't care if you killed that counsellor, or if she is alive, or if she is suffering from your lies and all. That is none of my concern, and truthfully, neither is this. Just...try to open up you know."

Nico shrugged. "It's not my thing. And i promise, okay? I promise I will stop all this cutting. And starving. And whatever other subconscious but harmful shit i do."

Nico swung his legs up to the armrest and let it sit there. He picked at his fingernails. There were still the blood stains from two days ago. Alecto frowned disapprovingly at him and scowled, but remained silent.

"Swear it on the Styx." Alecto said. Nico glared at her.

"You don't take my word for it?" Alecto didn't even flinch.

"Just worried someone else wouldn't take your word for it."

"Don't bring Will into this conversation." Nico warned. "Just because I like him doesn't necessarily mean that he likes me back in that way you know."

"Nico." Her forehead creased to show its thousand year old wrinkles (that should not have been there if this was the real therapist).

"It's not just Will, even though he does care about you. Your father is worried too, and enough. At least stay in the infirmary, would you? Go back to camp and accept some of the Apollo kid's help. Don't just do it for me, or that girl, or Will, or even Hades. Do it for yourself." She said.

Nico felt pressure closing in on him. Oh gods, it was another one of these expectations he'd have to fulfil. Slyly, he looked down at his arms. A whole mess of scarred tissue.

Then he looked at Alecto. She was playing with the dreamcatcher hung by the window grill. It was said that the dreamcatcher caught one's hopes and secret wishes. He thought about Will's pleading eyes and the look on Hazel's face the time he yelled at her.

Maybe this time, his dream to get well wouldn't just be a dream anymore. It could become his reality.

"Alright i swear on the Styx that i will go back to camp and receive help…" Nico started. "But on one condition."

The twinkle in Alecto's bright eyes dimmed. Her eyes yet again became testy. "And what may that be?"

Nico smirked. "If I don't get well within a week, i don't care what you're gonna say, I'm coming back to school." Nico raised his eyebrows. He had sworn it on the Styx, and Alecto wouldn't be the one to change that.

"Fine." Alecto said, her facial expressions sour.

Nico got up to leave. He had so much explaining to Will to do.

_

"C'mon Will. You know i need to go back to camp...and you know you can't come because everyone will notice…" Nico as they sat on chairs opposite each other.

Will pouted but stopped arguing. Nico knew how hard this must be for Will, but yet Will agreed to let Nico go although he knew he'd spend the entire time worrying. But of course, him being Will, it took a lot of persuasion and a little coercion.

Nevertheless, Nico felt heartened that Will would actually give in to him. Sure, people had given in to him before, but that was only because he pestered them enough to or because he was simply a pitiful and pathetic motherless child.

And he was glad he had someone to discuss decisions with. In the past, all choices were made by him and him alone. No one influenced his ideas or thoughts. No one had a say. In a way, it was quite selfish, but no one really bothered enough anyway.

But now, Will was there to give him advice. There would definitely be some instances where decisions would have been better made if Nico were the only one in control, but Nico preferred to have another person to share the burden with.

"But then about school..." Will started again, though Nico boldly put a finger to his lips, and Will's cheeks took on a dark red hue. Nico blushed too, and chided himself. He wasn't in any position to do something so touchy like that.

"Don't worry about it. I'm new to this studying thing, you're new to this studyinh thing, but so what? Everything will be fine. Stop worrying." Nico instructed sternly, but collapsed into a cloud of smiles as Will nodded reluctantly. Nico had almost forgotten how cute Will looked when he pouted sadly.

He had this cute baby face with his thin red lips and sun kissed freckles. Nico was sure he'd always give in to that face no matter the problem. Which would be a problem, but Nico ignored it for now. (It would surely affect his cold son of Hades reputation but hey, no one gives a shit about that)

"So I'm gonna be alone in this hellhole for the rest of my life." Will paised a while. "Alone." He reiterated again.

Nico slapped Will's head blindly and refrained from wincing when Will yelped in pain.

"It's only for a fucking week Solace. And it's not today. It's tomorrow Hades sake." Nico scrambled out of Will's chair and stood in front of him. "Get ready Will. We're going out. To get both our minds off this."

Will confused, then a sly smile worked its way onto his face. "A date you mean?"

Nico reddened so much he could swear it was the same colour as the tomatoes at the stand nearby. "We aren't even together bitch. This isn't a date. It's called being normal good friends who would like to buy stuff from the wall."

Will raised his eyebrows cheekily and slowly stood up. Nico watched as he slowly advanced. Nico barely noticed that he had taken a number of steps back.

His head hit the concrete with a soft thud. Will's nose was mere inches from his and Nico could hear his breaths. And on top of that, he could hear his racing heartbeat and for a second, Nico feared Will could hear it too.

"Wh-what do you want Solace?" Will smirked.

"To get changed. Are you gonna get out or...hmm?" A mischievous glint in his eye that Nico had never noticed before sparkled with teenage glee.

"I'm getting out now bye." Nico managed in one breath and skilfully ducked under Will's arm. The air was really getting hot in there. Nico fanned his face with his hand.

Once outside, Nico looked at himself. He was still wearing that shabby shirt and jeans. Should he change? His home was just around the bend.

Nico peeked back inside the house and heard Will's footsteps. Guess not then. Nico watched, green with envy as he gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.

Then he wondered, was he envious because his mother was no longer around, or because Naomi was the one who got kissed. Soon after, however, Nico slapped himself. He was only a month into the crush, and his mind was already getting ahead of himself.

But it would be nice though, just to feel a boy's lips on his. He subconsciously licked his dry lips.

"The air is humid here." Will brought Nico back to the current situation. Nico nodded absentmindedly.

"What was that about just now? The...advancing thing. Walking forward...blah blah…" Nico spilled incoherently.

Will shrugged. "Part of the Apollo charm. I do that to everybody. Even my siblings." He chuckled then his face turned serious. "Sorry if that made you uncomfortable."

Nico put his hands up defensively. "Uh? No! I mean...i didn't not like it actually, i kinda liked it, wait what? Sorry i meant it's weird, and i understand Apollo is weird sometimes but-oh gods let me just shut up now."

Will nodder stiffly and they walked along the quiet and deserted path. I woild have given many the chills, but it was Nico's type of place. Dark, eerie, quiet, and full of shadows that stretched and bowed as the young prince entered.

"You know what?" Will said after a long stretch of silence.

"What?" Nico asked back.

"Screw walking. Let's shadow-travel. That's what you like right?" Nico's eyes were ignited with impish excitement.

"Oh yes i do." Then Nico added as an afterthought. "Are you okay with it though?"

Will nodded confidently. He put an arm around Nico's shoulders and guided them to the darkest shadow he could find. Nico shudders involuntarily then felt embarrassed for it. Hadn't he gotten over this already? Wasn't touching okay with him now? Had he relapsed, or was it because the person touching him was...Will?

Nico shoved himself back into the current situation. Nico was still rather stunned, not just by his own odd thoughts but by Will's decision. Hadn't Will hated this mode of transport? Wasn't he scared? Didn't Will forbid him from it before?

"Don't you care that i might fade out?" Nico asked.

Will winked at him, and the familiar heat rushed to Nico's face. "Of course i am, but if you say you're ready, who am I to judge?" Then in a softer voice, Will continued. "But only this once."

Nico sighed and shook his head, then proceeding to hit Will's too. Will protested and rubbed at it, but before his hands could leave Nico, Nico already had them whisking through the darkness.

_

Nico slid his hand out of Will's grasp subtly and took a large step to the front of the store. He saw a pale mint green dress at the window. It looked like something Zu would like.

Nico had put into consideration that Zu's get-together party with Roman was just around the corner. It was never nice not to buy anything for the host. And this particular host was rich, so of course he'd fell obligated to buy something more pricey. Nico felt the fabric of the dress.

It looked a bit long for Zu but the texture was a smooth silky satin. Zu would love it. Nico had learned to crop fabrics before when he was young. In the 1940s. If he couldn't do it, he could ask Hazel for help too. People from the old days were required to learn such basic amenities.

Will's breaths ran down his collar. Nico's spine tingled. He wasn't quite used to having Will around by his side. But it was nice, he supposed, to have company after being alone for the past eighty-ish years.

"Do you think Zu'll like this?" Nico asked Will for his opinion. Will's expression was a mix of so many thoughts.

"It looks like the type of thing she'd wear...it's pretty and all but there are so many problems. For one thing, she could fall and injure her knee, she could scrape her arms, she could trip over the hem, the-"

"Holy Hera Will. I was just asking if it looked nice on her." Nico feigned displeasure, but inside, Nico was replaying he warm soothing memory of Will's low husky voice. A smile peeked out from behind the mask, and Will raised his eyebrows.

"Earth to Nico." Will shook his shoulders. Nico got a grip on himself and launched right back into the conversation.

"I'm still looking for the answer Solace."

"Yeah it's nice i suppose." Will relented finally. "But you need to shorten the length slightly but also cover up the parts where the fabric is uneven. The hem could be more frilly. I think Zu would like that."

"And…" Nico put a finger to his lips."i could maybe add some of those...white flower things. You know, as embroidery. I vaguely remember Zu once telling me that she liked those...what's it called again?"

"White roses?"

"Yah those." Nico smiled and high-fived Will, which must have been a shock because Will's hand didn't even drop after the first few seconds of the clap.

Wow, they really had a good imagination when put together. "Brilliant minds think alike." Nico muttered and walked into the shop. He asked for the cashier.

He pointed to the dress at the window and she gave him a funny look. Nico turned away. What was wrong with buying a dress as a teenager for your good friend? He had the money anyway.

She packed the dress for him, but it was a horrible job. How slipshod. He frowned.

"Could you please package it in a more sellable manner?" Nico said. She rolled her eyes and snatched the dress out of the container before folding it in a nicer manner.

"Not like you have the money to buy it anyway. Just gonna take a picture of it, post it on social media, and leave. Stupid teenagers." The lady muttered under her breath softly. Or so she thought.

"What did you say?" Nico questioned. He had very well heard what the lady had said, but it would be nice to hear her say it again and see her reaction when a wad of bills was pressed into her filthy palm.

"Nothing." She replied snobbishly. She stuck her hand out. "Please pay up."

Nico didn't back down. Staring at her squarely in the eye, he handed over a thousand dollar bill. "Keep the change, ma'am. I'll be awaiting your arrival at my father's house."

Nico didn't stay to see her reaction. He probably would have had to reason with her over a long period of time, something he did not have.

Especially not for this courteous and totally polite young lady.


	24. Chapter 24

Nico walked off, package tucked under his left arm. Will hurried after Nico and asked him what had happened. Nico, after ranting about how dumb mortals were, finally got to explaining the situation. Will was speechless. Just speechless.

Nico turned to give the lady one last glare. Then he turned back and sighed. He didn't want to hold this grudge. He didn't want to go against Bianca. He kicked the stone on the ground and it rolled along the pavement.

He looked at the package in his hand. At least he had that job done. He was beginning to worry about it. He turned to Will, but he wasn't by his side.

Nico's mind searched through the multiple possibilities. Oh gods no...he couldn't be at the shop…

Nico whipped around a full 180 degrees. Will was storming towards the shop. The lady looked so defensive and for a moment, Nico was glad Will was there to teach her a lesson.

Then he quickly shook out of it. He briskly ambled over to Will's side. He tugged at his arm.

"What are you doing?" Nico hissed. Will's glazed eyes cleared. The intense fury in his irises lessened.

"The lady was such a twat. She couldn't just get away with it just like that." Will rubbed his forehead. "I guess it was a rash decision on my part. It's just that she was so mean to you."

Nico clenched fists slowly unravelled. So Will was doing this for him. His gaze softened, then he rolled his fists back into their normal curled balls. So what? Nico shouldn't overthink it. He was just a friend to Will.

"It's okay. I've been treated worse." Will looked like he wanted to say something more but Nico had other plans.

"People are staring Will. Let's go." Nico pulled Will's hand and led him out of the mall. At some point, he realised he was holding Will's wrist, and his ears turned pink. He immediately released it but Will wasn't having that. He looped his fingers around Nico's bony forearm.

No, Nico thought. You can't let him do this. You can't let yourself be lost in this feeling called 'love'. You can't give Will false hope.

His own conscience tearing at him, Nico pried Will's fingers away from his forearm and placed it on his jacket. He looked away from Will's face as he did so. He didn't want Will to know how hard it was for him.

"Nico-" Nico blinked his eyes furiously.

"Shut up Solace. Get out of here." Nico silenced him and was stunned by his own change of tone. He opened his mouth to take it back then he shut it.

No, let Will drift further away from you. Distance yourself Nico, do this for him. Piss him off, cuss at him, ignore him. Do whatever you can to get him away from you.

Nico's heart dropped when Will didn't speak after. Nico guessed he had cut him too deep. But it was what he wanted, wasn't it? That was why he had told him to shut up right? However, instead of feeling good about himself like he should have, he felt hurt, guilt, and hate for himself for doing such a ghastly thing to the one he liked.

He hated himself.

He was in complete hatred with himself he had failed to notice the dark tendrils that curled around his ankles and snaked up his legs. In fact, he only realised when a slap was sent across his forearm.

He turned to look at the attacker, but found a thick layer of darkness in front of his face. He brought his hands up to push it away, but while he understood his hands could pass through, the sheet of shadows didn't dissipate.

He asked his father for help. He asked Alecto for help, but then he realised that no one could help him but himself, and he was not capable of it. He was weak, a tiny puny child always in need.

He stopped trying to dodge the shadows, he stopped pushing them away. Instead, he walked out to the open and kept the package under his arm.

He walked in the rain, the cold sleet that hit him relentlessly. Perhaps he was too strong or cold too notice, but he felt nothing at all. Nothing. He was swimming in a pool of numbness.

Footsteps were muted in the rain, as were his silent sobs. He heard Will's voice call after him. He bit his lip and as much as he hated too, he walked faster. He walked away from the voice. He walked towards the path to loneliness.

Sometimes, he thought, when you love someone, you must let them be with the right person, and that person isn't you, Nico. But Nico didn't want to. He wanted Will. He wanted Will to love him back.

He wanted to be able to still see Will brush away that stray strand of golden hair from his face, he still wanted to see Will's gorgeous sun kissed freckles, he wanted to be able to wrap his arms around Will's torso for dear life, so that even if he fell, even if he got hurt, even if he died, he could say he lived with less regrets.

Nico's footsteps halted and he turned around. Will was just feet from him. He was wet, hair a ragged mess matted against his tan face. Lost blue eyes were held in place by sockets.

"Is it because I told on you? Is it because I tried to avenge you earlier? Is it because I used too much of Apollo's charm on you? Is it my fault?" Will called across the distance. To many, his words were lost along the pouring rain. But Nico heard each word, loud and clear. Nico's tears were on the brim of spilling. He held them back.

He couldn't bring himself to shake his head, or tell Will all was okay, maybe because he really wasn't. He couldn't go up to Will and ask for a long hug to chase away his worries and troubles. Instead, he reached a hand into the shadow at his side, and took out an umbrella. He didn't, not once, break Will's eye contact for even a second.

He tossed the umbrella at Will through the shadows, which had cleared up a lot already. Will caught the umbrella on pure reflexes. Nico forced a smile onto his face, a sad thin lipped smile, just for Will's pleasure.

"Take the umbrella." Nico continued to reach into the shadow and took out more items. They were all his right, his entitlement to being a child of the underworld. He tossed the raincoat, shoes, socks, and the gift for Zu.

"Take it, Will. You're drenched."

Through the film of unshed tears that blurred his vision, Nico closed the gap between them, and helped Will put on all the items slowly. He put the raincoat around his shoulders and helped Will change out of his soaked pair of slippers. His hands worked slowly, etching this memory in his mind.

His weak joints screamed at him, as he stood up after the job was done. He kept his head down, and he hid his own freezing fingers in his pockets. Across the distance that stretched beyond just the physical barriers, Nico called across softly, just loud enough for Will to hear.

"Don't catch a cold while I'm gone."

A tear rolled down Nico's gaunt cheekbones as he fell into the shadow realm, but as always, it was lost in the rain.  
_

Will ran after Nico. What had happened in the store? He left in such a huff, the swagger all out.

"What happened in there?" Nico seemed to have forgotten the whole 'children of Hades are selective talkers' exterior.

"The lady was such a moron like you won't believe. She said that teenagers only knew how to take pictures and post on social media. Like, the hell? Am I supposed to know what social media is? And does she even know who in Hades I am? I'm the one in charge of her afterlife for hades' sake! And she was implying that i didn't have the money. Like what the fuck? Hades owns a whole vault of gold. Solely for gold. And he's thinking of building ten more because one just isn't enough space. And this lady is like, you ain't got no money boy. And I'm ranting, I know, but can't you see? She's such a stereotypical bitch!" Nico let out in one whole breath at rapping speed.

But Will wasn't listening. Well, no. He wasn't not listening. More like he was thinking about how nice and warm Nico's voice was. And that beautifully sexy edge to it. Oh gods he just used sexy on a boy. He mentally gave himself a slap on the cheek.

He didn't even like Nico. He was just...strangely happy to just hear his voice and hear him speak. Really, it didn't even matter what topic Nico was speaking about. It was just the way his italian accent slipped in every now and then. And maybe also the way his head tilted. And the warmth of his brown eyes.

Whatever. He just didn't like Nico. He didn't. Hd couldn't. At a certain point, Will realised Nico had finished speaking. It was actually pretty obvious when he stopped talking. Just when his ears tingled and itched. Whenever that happened, Will automatically knew that Nico was done talking.

He sulked. He liked to hear Nico's voice. Then Nico added the last sentence.

"She's like crap on earth. I'm not giving her Elysium that's for sure." That was probably what set Will off. How could someone even harbour the thought of irritating this little piece of heaven? That woman deserved hell. No one, Will told himself, could dare to treat Nico like that.

He left Nico hanging as he stormed in the direction of the store. He remembered which one it was, who wouldn't? It was the ugly blue one with horrendous yellow stripes. His eyes glazed with anger.

Then he felt a cool arm catch his. His heated skin cooled in an instant. He turned around to see who that was. Who dared to stop him from giving that old lady a lesson? His head tilted towards the lady.

His lips cracked into a smirk when he saw her defenseless little mortal arms raise in defeat. Then he looked to the person grabbing his arm.

It was Nico. His face was flushed and he was breathing heavily. Oh gods, his adorable bunny nose...his deep brown eyes…

"What are you doing?" Nico hissed. Will shook his head to clear the glaze in his eyes. His anger level went down a whole notch. Perhaps it was a charm of Nico's, to be able to calm one down. Or maybe Will just had this soft spot for Nico. Then he shivered.

No Will, you can't like Nico. He's a weird annoying pesky adorable dork. Wait what? Will blinked his eyes.

"The lady was such a twat. She couldn't just get away with it like that." Will whined and looked to the lady again. She had this smug smile on and she shooed him away. Will gritted his teeth and was about to lunge at her again, then he caught Nico's eyes.

He rubbed his forehead. "I guess it was a rash decision on my part. It's just that she was so mean to you." Will paused for a moment, unsure if what he just said was in line with Nico's rant. If it wasn't, Nico would probably realise that Will hadn't been listening.

Will's eyes traced down Nico's arms and found two fists, released, then curled back.

"It's okay. I've been treated worse." Nico let out finally. Will wanted to argue that just because he had been treated worse didn't mean that he was allowed to be pushed around. But Nico obviously wasn't thinking about that right then.

"People are staring Will. Let's go." And the least expected thing happened to Will. Nico held his wrist and pulled him out of the mall. Will felt like he eas in heaven. His arm had this cold band around it that gave him a totally new sensation. A sensation he never knew he needed until then.

His lips cracked into a smile as he let himself bathe in the feeling. Butterflies danced excitedly around the walls of his stomach. While everything around him slowed to revolve around Nico, his heartbeat quickened.

Then it happened. Nico slipped his fingers away from Will's. Will was confused. Why was Nico doing this? He gripped on to Nico's bony forearm but Nico peeled it away and placed it on his jacket sleeve.

Will didn't understand. He wanted to touch Nico's skin, feel his bones, measure his heart rate. He wanted the cool of his touch.

"Nico-" Will began, but was promptly cut off by Nico.

"Shut up Solace. Get out of here." Will searched Nico's face for a reasoning, but Nico had his face away from Will. What had Will done now? His voice was cold and unfeeling. Will was scared.

What was Nico doing now? Was it something Will had done? Will was hurt. He guessed it was so. He let the rest of the walk be in silence, but every so often, he would check on Nico.

Nico had these outbursts sometimes, but Will never knew why. He wanted to. He wanted to know why Nico worked this way, he wanted to know what was going on in Nico's mind. He wanted to be able to understand Nico in a way he had never wanted to before.

Keep the feelings out of this, William. The only reason you want to know is because you wish to know more about him. As a friend. Nothing more. Just a friend. Get that in your head William!

Will looked to Nico again, but he couldn't quite see him. Shadows lined his very frame, and as they did so, Will finally realised the extent of Nico's skinny frame. It had reached a point beyond just 'skinny'. It was meatless, literally bony. Just bones. They protruded at every and any angle.

"Nico. Don't shut me up you're covered in-Nico! Can you even hear me?" Will asked, alarmed.

Nico was unresponsive. Seconds ticked away in Will's mind like a bomb.

He apologised to Nico in advance and slapped Nico's forearm through the shadows. Mortals must have been all under the mist for they didn't take much into consideration and only gave a displeased frown at the smack Will gave Nico. Nothing more. No widened eyes or agape mouths.

Nico jolted awake and out of the dazed state of which he had been in. Nico tried to dodge, hide, and push away the shadows. Will tried too, but then, Nico gave up.

His arms went limp and he stopped fighting it. He stopped trying to get them away. Will was scared that Nico had accepted this lifeless state.

He walked out to the pouring rain, victim to the weather outside.

Will looked at himself. He was in slippers, shorts and a random shirt. He hadn't even brought an umbrella to shield Nico with. He glanced helplessly out of the mall. If Nico could suffer this way, why couldn't Will?

He disregarded all the stares as he ran past shops and well lit windows. Rain truckled down his forehead and into his eyes, but Will didn't bother to brush them aside. He had to follow Nico.

Water stung his eyes, and he had to stop or his corneas would be harmed. He halted in his steps and raised his hands up to his eyes. Then he dropped his arms by his side. Nico had probably run off.

But he picked up his head anyway. There, in front of him, Nico stood, not in glory or beauty, but as a mess. His shoes were wet as were his pants and shirt and jacket. Will gave himself a onceover.

His slippers were brown from running through way too many muddy puddles, and his golden locks stuck to his forehead like they were congealed.

Will stared back at Nico, and Will could see the tip of his nose redden. No, Nico couldn't be crying. Will blinked away the illusion, and maybe tried to mentally alter the image. It didn't matter anyway, the redness at his nose was gone.

"Is it because I told on you? Is it because I tried to avenge you earlier? Is it because I used too much of Apollo's charm on you? Is it my fault?" Will called out. Perhaps that was the reason for Nico's running. Nico didn't answer. Will hung his head. So was it or was it not? Turns out he never got an answer.

Will's eyes could see Nico reach into the shadow by his side and he took out something. Will wanted to see what he took out, but he kept his gaze on Nico. Nico threw something at him, and he caught it.

He looked down to see what he had caught. An umbrella. His eyes drifted back up to Nico.

Nico smiled sadly, his pink hinted lips stretched into a smile too forced to be genuine.

"Take the umbrella." His voice was not lost along the pouring rain, and if anything, it seemed to be amplified by the surrounding noise. Will clutched the umbrella tightly in his hand.

Nico took out some other things from the shadows.

"Take these Will. You're drenched."

Nico said it so caringly, with such motherly affection Will hadn't known Nico had in him. Will didn't move, and maybe he wasn't supposed too.

Nico walked over, and Will's heart tore. He walked so sluggishly, so limply, like he was sick and tired of life in general.

Nico bent down and slipped off Will's slipper and carefully put the socks on, then the shoes. It was cold, and it smelled like Nico. Will's mind wanted him to bend down and help Nico, but his heart and hands told him no. Something told him this would be the last time Nico would do this in a long while, and if Nico offered to do it, Will better let him.

So he did.

Will watched in silence as Nico laced up the shoes, and put the coat over his shoulder, and felt Nico's fingers brush against his lips as he did so. And Nico's eyes bore into his soul as he lastly handed over the package in his hands. Perhaps it was some sort of goodbye, some ritual of Nico's.

"Don't catch a cold while I'm gone."

Before he knew it, Nico stepped back, back and out of Will's reach. That was when Will finally realised what was happening. Will leapt forward to catch Nico as he fell into the shadows.

But Nico was already gone.


	25. Chapter 25

Nico landed on the television at camp. Travis and Connor shrieked and fell off the couches. The television speaker was still talking, and Nico assumed he hadn't broken it.

He put a finger up to explain, but the cabin was an absolute mess. Everyone was either screaming in shock, stunned into silence, or desperately trying to hide their loot.

Nico would have laughed if he weren't in his current situation. Instead, he made himself a little more comfortable on the telly and his skinny legs dangled in front of the screen. He waited for everyone to be more at peace.

"Hi Nico." Connor began.

"What are you doing here?" Travis continued. Nico sighed. He had to explain. Again.

"Sorry. Was tryna go to Apollo cabin. Accident. Guess I'll get going." Nico slid off the hard metal and ignored the fizzing wires by the side.

"Actually, Nico…" Travis started up this time and Connor followed.

"Wanna play a game or two of Mario kart?" Nico knew he shouldn't, and that he should really be heading out, but it was just a game.

"Alright." He relented. "But only one, then I'll get going."

Connor turned to a few kids by the side. They didn't all have that impish grin or mischievous gleam, and Nico supposed they were the unclaimed children. New ones, probably, seeing that the gods would surely be more proactive about it after the war.

"Gather around kids. This is the arcade game expert i was talking about." Travis grinned.

"He's gonna beat us hands down." Nico groaned.

"Oh so you asked me to show off my skills? Nevermind then." Nico got up to leave but a girl caught his sleeve.

"Please." She begged. Now that Nico thought about it, the girl was probably a yet to be claimed child of Aphrodite with that charmspeak but anyway, Nico stayed.

"Fine." Nico exhaled. "But if we're going for a showdown, bring on your best player. We'll go through all the games here, from board games to arcade games."

Connor volunteered himself, and Travis gave him a little shove and a 'good luck' fist pump. Nico loosened up his shoulders and popped his neck joints. He gave Connor a handshake, which Connor did not expect obviously, based on his trembling hands after.

Nico eased himself into the seat and his hands found the console like a pro. He played this a million over times in the lotus casino, and it would definitely take another one with the same background to even have a chance to win.

The game started, and Nico easily overtook Connor's character. His hands flew over the console effortlessly at the speed of light, and his eyes glinted with the desire to win.

"Woah you've gotten better Connor." Nico said absentmindedly as he swerved to the side to get the power up.

Connor, too, laughed lightheartedly. "Nah you're being easy on me." Nico smiled and shrugged while his eyes were still focused on the game. Hades had the mind to restore his perfect eyesight and Nico was really thankful at that moment or he would have been behind a few places.

He went past the finish line and he put the console down. Connor was not so calm. He slammed it on the ground.

"Dang it. This was literally the closest I've been to you dude." Connor playfully punched Nico's shoulder.

"Sure. If you say so." Nico proceeded over to the shooting game. He took up the rifle.

"Wanna try Stoll?" Nico smirked and dropped two shadow tokens in. Travis secretly switched places with Connor and Travis nodded.

"I know it's you Travis. You think i still haven't learnt?" Nico deadpanned but went on to select the mode. Extremely difficult. He picked it and without shifting his eyes away, he handed Travis the other rifle.

They started and the entire cabin watched with bated breath. There really wasn't a need for it though. They all knew Nico would win, which he did.

They went on with the other games, and every now and then, Nico would purposely make a little error to keep his opponent's hopes up. He always won in the end anyway. He had pretty much become the idol figure for all the kids that afternoon.

Then he had the mind to glance at the clock. It was evening and he had missed dinner. He looked down at his stomach. It had stopped calling for food for a long time already. It didn't make a difference if he didn't eat that day.

At the end of the last game available, he sat up and stretched. He moved the knight forward on the chessboard and sighed.

"Checkmate." He let his opponent realise where he had gone wrong then took all the pieces from the board and gingerly packed them back into the case. His legs propped him up and he shook hands with the Stolls.

"Oh you asked why am I here?" The Stolls nodded.

"Infirmary shit. You know how they are." Nico stared at them a while longer. "Thanks for the afternoon." He ducked under the low door frame and sprinted toward the big house. He had completely forgotten to tell Chiron he was here.

He pushed open the door then turned red. Damnit. He was supposed to knock. Mr. D and Chiron were there with Annabeth and Percy talking about something.

"Sorry for intruding. Forgot to knock." Nico hastily apologised.

"Oh no it's okay." Chiron adjusted his glasses. "My boy, what are you doing here? And where have you been? We were just about to send Percy and Annabeth out to search for you."

"Didn't Frank tell you about it?" Chiron nodded and his eyes twinkled.

"Yeah, but it was quite a while already and we were kinda expecting a quicker return." Nico shrugged then turned to the god.

"Good evening Mr. D." Nico bowed. Unknown to many, he was on rather good terms with Mr. D and the god often came to Nico for help with his crazy ass children.

Mr. D grunted and his eyes moved back to Percy and Annabeth, who were standing stiffly in the room.

"Peter and Avery, please return to your cabins. I would like to speak with Nico." Percy looked like he wanted to protest about the name calling but Annabeth squeezed his hand and glared at him. Percy sighed and his lips stretched into a thin line. Percy hesitantly patted his shoulder.

"Good to see you're okay, Nico. Just so you know, i don't hate you or anything." Nico didn't know what response he should have given so he didn't. When they left the room, Chiron beckoned Nico over.

"Alecto spoke to me earlier. Are you okay my boy?" Nico scowled but held back his usual 'not your boy' comment.

"Fine. I'll get going." But Mr. D caught his sleeve. "Sheila is acting up again. In the infirmary too with you. Could you uh…"

Nico shook off Mr. D's grip and nodded grimly. "Sure thing. No problem. If there's nothing else, I'll get going." Nico left the big house and sprinted toward the infirmary. The quicker he got there, the sooner he'd leave anyway.  
_

Will barely noticed the IM that popped up in front of him.

"Will. Will!" Kayla called. Will jolted out of his daze and tries to grab at the image then realised how stupid her must have looked.

"Your patient is here." Kayla folded her arms and cupped them at the elbows. "He looks horrible. As in the sickly state he's in."

Will hung his head. "That's why he's there. How is he? Can i see him?" Kearns left the image for a few seconds and Austin told him Kayla as along Nico.

She returned a moment later and she looked embarrassed. "He said he didn't want to see you. He told you not to bother him anymore. I'm sorry Will. It's patient's confidentiality. You know best how it works."

Will was speechless. He must really have done something bad to make Nico not want to even see him. "But… just is he okay?"

Kayla looked even more uncomfortable. "Confidentiality Will. I already said too much earlier."

Will frowned. "He is my patient isn't he?" He took a deep breath. "Sorry. I understand."

Kayla took pity on him. "He won't die, Will. He's a fighter. A good fighter." She smiled sadly then from behind, Will heard Nico's voice. His ears shot up immediately.

"Tell Will I'm fine. That's really all he needs to hear." His voice was a bit muffled due to the poor connection but Will caught the important bits. Thanking Kayla one last time, Will swiped through the connection.

Zu knocked on his door. Will forgot he was in Zu's house to discuss matters.

"Will? How is Nico?" Will opened the door.

"Whatever. He's okay, i guess. Not too bad. Won't die." But Will knew how vague that statement was. Zu must have known what Will was saying for she didn't probe further.

"Here. Eat something." Zu's mother poked her head through the crack in the door and handed him a twenty.

"No appetite." Will mumbled and pushed past Zu out of the door and went out to the porch.  
_

"No appetite." Will mumbled. Zu watched as he went out to the porch. She looked to her Mama. She gave her a sad smile and pressed the money into her palm.

"Get him something to eat." Zu sighed.

"I know Mama." She clutched the twenty in her palm and trailed after Will. He was walking out of the gate and toward the bicycle he had parked there.

"Can i stay over at your house today Will?" Zu asked politely and looked back to her Mama for permission but she was gone. Will shrugged and cocked his head in the direction of the back seat of the bicycle. It looked new and Zu felt out of place just sitting in it.

It looked custom made for another person. A person smaller than she. She uncomfortably perched on the seat and held it tightly as Will sped off.

"Why don't we stop by to have dinner?" Zu pointed to the seven eleven at the bend. Will didn't answer but drove in anyway. He stood outside as she went in and bought two sandwiches. She would glance at him worriedly to make sure he was still there. Thankfully, he was.

Will cycled back the entire journey. He had this lost and faraway look Nico used to have. Zu's heart pounded. She couldn't have two of her good friends sent to some random hospital she had never heard of.

He parked the bicycle in the grass and didn't wait as Zu climbed out of the seat. She hurried after and did some quick introduction to Naomi. Naomi was a kind lady but Zu didn't stop to chat for long. She raced up the stairs to Will's bedroom.

She guessed he probably wouldn't blame her if she barged in and so she did. She thrust a sandwich in his direction and watched him as he peeled off the wrapping.

"Eat it." Zu ordered. Will boredly put the bread in his mouth and stared at Zu as he did so.

"Happy now?" Will said. Zu nodded and eyed him as he finished the sandwich with extreme effort.

Will turned on the telly. It was some comedy show. The host was dressed like a carved out pumpkin and the comedian looked like the long lost relative of a banana. They each told joke after joke, and pun after pun.

Zu took notice of Will's each and every movement. She watched as he went to hi little cooler fridge and took out a bag of chips. He took his seat at the bottom bunk and watched the telly.

But he wasn't alright. He laughed a little too hard at the jokes, and most weren't even that funny.

"Will-" But Will wasn't having any of it. He turned up the volume and yelled over it.

"This is my favourite joke!"

Will hated old dad jokes.  
_

Zu huddled under the sheets. It was twelve midnight and Will was finally exhausted enough to sleep. He tossed her some of his old but comfortable shirts and she fingered her toothbrush in her pocket.

Will beat her to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Zu followed after him and went in to change and brush her teeth too.

By the time she came out, Will was already under his covers, but he was fidgeting and Zu could tell he was not yet asleep.

"Will?" Zu called. He didn't respond after a long time and Zu thought maybe Will had really fallen asleep.

"Yes Zu? What is it?" He said. His voice was soft and cracky, almost like he had been crying.

"Good night." Zu said, testing out her voice in the room.

"Good night Suzume."

Zu pulled the blanket over her eyes. It was eerily quiet. And cold too. She squinted at the temperature Will had put for the air cooler. Eighteen degrees.

She shivered. It was cold. So cold. She could hear Will's shuddering breaths too as he exhaled, and she wondered why he had turned it down so low if he found it cold too. But she decided she better not ask.

Her eyes finally shut, but they cracked open again soon after.

Another bad joke was heard from the telly.  
_

Will cycled Zu back to her home. He was feeling really down. Very very down. He thought he might even be ill, but he couldn't.

"Don't catch a cold while I'm gone." Nico had said before he left. Hw couldn't be sick. He thought maybe this was how Nico felt when everyone each placed yet another responsibility on his shoulders. So this was how Nico felt every day.

Damn. Will hadn't understood why Nico was constantly so moody and unwilling to do everything. So this was why. Because he feared he'd let them down. Because he had to live up to yet another expectation. Will really took his hat off to Nico.

Additionally, this so called responsibility was nothing compared to the things Nico were entrusted with. It was on a whole new level, and Will couldn't even get past this one.

Zu had been silent the whole morning. Perhaps she knew how he felt. Perhaps she too was feeling the same way.

Will stopped outside at the park nearby. It was a sunny day, the kind of day Will would have loved to spend with Nico.

Zu didn't question him when he halted. She just followed him quietly and gave him space. At that point, Will wasn't even sure he wanted attention or time.

He sat on the bare grass and felt the dew soak up the bottom of his pants. But it would always dry off. He had heat. He was a heater. A portable heater. He never got soaked for long.

He thought about Nico, and the cute little things about him. He thought about his last proper talk with him before the counselling. Had he given a clue? Had Nico wanted Will's help before? Did Nico feel the same way about Will and Will did about him?

"Do you think he'll be alright? Honestly, Zu?" Will said, not locking eye contact with her.

"Will, he will be fine." She said. He turned to her. He didn't quite believe her. How could she still be so positive when his friend could be dying?

"Do you really think so?" His voice cracked in the most pathetic way he didn't want to. The way it always did before he cried. Tears misted his eyes and finally, a single tear fell.

Zu pulled him in close as he cried. He cried about Nico. He cried about Nico's sad and sorry state. He cried and he cried and he cried.

Zu patted his head. "Since you care so much about him, why don't you go? Go help him."

Will drew back and shook his head. "I can't. Everyone will find it odd."

Zu shook her head. "I can do the snappy finger thing that Nico did on Ms. Shirley before. Remember how when he snapped his fingers she forgot everything?"

Will's tears dried up. She could see it? That could only mean…

"You saw it? You remember that Nico used to be unable to read english?" Zu found sudden interest in her fingers.

"Um yes and Vida and Kyria and Chiara and Candice and Sheila saw it too." She put a finger to her lips. "But everyone else forgot. I think. They all looked very confused when i tried to tell them."

Will grabbed her by the shoulders. "Okay. Pardon me for asking but are you and your friends all raised by a single parent?"

Zu looked a little offended. "Yes. Did Nico tell you that?"

Will was stunned. Holy crap. So this was the group of demigods he was here to protect and bring back to camp! He gripped her wirst.

"Bring me to your mom, and your friends' parents. I need to have a word with them. You can't tell anyone." He insisted. Zu looked scared but she agreed.

"O-ok."


	26. Chapter 26

Will materialised in front of camp and shrieked. He felt his face and his limbs then thumped his chest in relief. Oh gods. Thank the gods Hazel was able to send him to camp.

Still a bit disoriented, he walked in and the entire 'strawberry farm' facade broke away. The greenery of camp embraced him, but he let that go unnoticed. He quickly informed Chiron and Mr. D of his arrival and sped off in the direction of the infirmary.

When he pushed open the doors, Nico was the only one with a neutral expression.

"Hi Will. Nice to meet you here." He said calmly. Will raised an eyebrow.

"You knew i would come after you when you left me hanging?" Will was unimpressed, but yet secretly happy Nico was as Kayla said, not dead. Nico blushed.

"I can feel when Hazel tries a trick. The shadow tunnel she dug out for you didn't quite work and i just threw you into the shadow realm where i could easily redirect you and put you on course."

Kayla went up to Will and pinched his skin. "Oh gods, he's real." She led him to the room by the side. She pulled his hand and it twitched when she realised he was really there. Will smiled. It was nice to be home after a month of 'normal' life. There, she whispered to his dismay.

"I know you want to help Nico, but he's currently my patient so I'm giving you another patient alright? She's pretty much on the verge of dying." Will masked up his disappointment and immediately worked on the girl.

She was a legacy of Dionysus and a daughter of Hermes. Still had the craze of her near insane father though.

Will would never give up a chance to save any patient. Even if he wanted to work on Nico, he wouldn't mix in his personal life with his work life.

With a deep breath, he held his hand out to Austin.

"Golden thread please."  
_

Nico had the shock of his life when he felt movement in the underworld. The shadow realm, to be more exact. There had been no one other than him who used this mode of transport and Hades was way too skilled to cause such terrific tremors down there.

He had felt a person being pulled in all directions. Normally, he would have thought it was his father torturing a soul but Nico found something off. Something he couldn't quite explain. Anyway, for curiosity sake, he peered into the shadows and found Will there.

Nico panicked. At this rate, Will would either end up in pieces or fall on top of him and crush whatever little self-pride he had left.

As a solution, he whispered to the shadows to bring him to the entrance of the camp and they, apparently, heeded his instructions.

Now, he watched Will as Kayla did the usual hourly checks on him. Will's gifted hands poked and probed at the patient's ribs. She was throwing up and looking paler and paler by the minute.

Nico smelled Thanatos in the distance. He would soon be coming to collect her soul. Nico's breaths quickened.

Will was looking more and more desperate by the second. He looked so flustered. Nico knew best how it felt to watch an innocent person die before his eyes. He would hate for Will to have to go through this again.

Kayla was waving her hand in front of him. Supposedly, the monitor that tracked his heartbeat was beeping inconsistently. Which was dangerous. But did Nico care? Honestly, not really. The only reason he did, or 'did' before was because of Will.

Nico watched the fidgeting girl still. His monitor was racing and beeping like a broken recorder. Kayla unplugged and replugged in the wire but it didn't help anything.

If anything, the girl was breathing her last.

Nico's eyes glazed and he found himself being able to see Thanatos shadowy figure float through the door. Thanatos waved to Nico.

"Greetings, prince." Nico bristled at the name.

"What are you doing here?" Thanatos sighed.

"Reaping a soul of course. Wanna help me?" Nico wrinkled his nose.

"You mean that legacy of Dionysus? Child of Hermes? Oh no Thanatos, not today. You're not taking her on my watch."

"Nico, you know how death works." But Nico wasn't having it.

"Oh no you don't bitch." Nico growled then calmed slightly. "Ok how about i ask Hades to give you a higher pay? Like Charon? Just don't take her soul, or at least, not while the doctor is working on her."

Thanatos considered this. He looked doubtful. Perhaps he didn't believe Nico would do that.

"I promise. Hades is my dad." After a few moments, Thanatos nodded.

"Yes. A pay raise would be nice." Thanatos didn't leave yet though. He was looking at Will as he revived the patient and as he sank back into his chair, job complete.

"But pray tell. Is there a particular reason you don't want her dead?" Nico kept silent.

"If you tell me I don't need that pay raise." Thanatos offered. Nico admitted, that did sound tempting. While he could ask Hades to give Thanatos a pay raise, it would take days of pestering and that meant that there was one thing less he could bribe Thanatos with.

"Will." Nico said. Thanatos cocked his head to the side. "That son of Apollo? What has he got to do with this? Not like you have a-oh. Oooh."

Thanatos grinned maniacally. "Ok. That was information worth trading money for." Then, he swished his coat and disappeared.

He looked to Kayla. She didn't seem to care he had been 'talking to himself' or maybe didn't notice. She checked the monitor again and heaved a sigh of relief when the readings were back to normal.

"Oh gods you scared me. But other than that weird fluctuation, you seem to be on the road to recovery."

Nico shrugged. He didn't care. Sure, his skin was regaining its original olive hue but so what? He rather spend his time watching Will save sick dying patients.  
_

It was a week after the treatment began and as Nico had sworn, he was returning to Singapore. Will had just told Nico about the demigods at TJ and he was going back for the last time to bring them over. Then he'd chill. And maybe stare at Will a while longer before going for some spiritual cleaning to get rid of his feelings.

He just wiped his clammy hands now on the back of his pants. Despite being physically slightly better (he only got a bit of olive back into his skin, didn't get more messy out whatnot) and a little mentally better, he was still rather disoriented.

Going to Singapore would help. Actually, all he was doing was going around to every demigods' parent's home to tell them that they are going to take their child back to this hellhole of a 'haven'.

He let Will press his palm into his, and Nico melted into the blissful feeling of skin against skin. His eyes shut, he freefell into the darkness in front.

Zu was first. She gave Nico a big hug when she saw him and quickly pulled her mother over to the door.

"Will." She smiled and acknowledged, then turned to Nico. "Ah. You must be Nico. Zu has told me a lot about you."

"Mama!" Zu whined. Nico only smirked.

"It better be good stuff then." He said and shook her hand. "I suppose you know what we are here for?"

She nodded and turned her back on Zu. 'You know how i told you dyeing your hair yellow would remind Mama of Daddy?"

Zu nodded. "Well, it's because your Daddy kinda ruled the sun. You know what i mean, sunshine? He rides the sun." She looked it tho the horizon and shrieked her eyes like maybe if she strained her eyes hard enough, she could see the god. She sighed and turned back to Zu.

Will snickered and punched Nico's shoulder. "Sunshine? I'm sunshine. You're sunshine. Sunshine...nice pet name." Nico blushed and tried to keep his focus on the conversation.

"-of sun? Daddy is the god of sun? Oh my god! Or gods, in this case." Zu held her mother's hands."So why did you have to tell me?"

"Because now that Nico and Will have found you, it means there is a higher chance of monsters attacking you." Nico frowned.

"Monsters have been attacking you? How come i didn't notice?" Her mother rubbed her forehead.

"Ever since you cane to TJ, none Havre attacked."

"Monsters are more afraid of me than i they." Zu looked confused.

"Why?"

"Cos I'm a child of the Underworld. Hades is my godly parent. And Will and i are gonna betting you to camp. It's a summer camp, so you can come back at the later parts of the year. Till see your Mama of course."

Zu clutched her mother's hands tightly. "I will come back to see you, okay Mama? Miss me? Ever?"

With tears in her eyes, her mother nodded wordlessly.

"Mama...don't cry." Zu hugged her mother and said some soothing words in Japanese. Nico had picked up the language a while ago and easily recognised the words.

"Say goodbye to your mother, Zu. You'll see her in summer." Will nudged Nico and tilted his head.

"What was that?" Will half whispered.

"Japanese, you dork." Nico smacked his head lightly, like he was afraid of injuring Will.

"You know Japanese?" Her mother said (in japanese, cos I'm too lazy to use google translate).

"Mhm. Learnt it a while back." (Japanese) Nico smiled warmly and pulled Zu away after she bid her mother goodbye.

She had everything in her hands. It was all clothes and prized possessions.

"Need help Zu?" Zu snapped out of whatever she had been in. "Uh yeah sure."

Nico outstretched his hand. "May i?" She handed him over the bags.

She then whispered to Will. "Why is he so formal?"

Equally softly, Will whispered back. "From the 1940s. Long story. Son of Hades, lord of Underworld, souls, dead."

"And riches." Nico pointed out. "And shadows. And all that dark stuff." He sniggered on the inside when they realised he had known they were talking about him.

"Mind if i shadow-travel it back to camp? Still have Kyria Candice blah blah blah to go."

Zu opened her mouth, probably to ask what that was but Nico had thrown it all into the portal nearby.

"We'll be shadow-travelling back too. I suggest you ask Will for advice on how not to throw up."

"And what about Roman?" Zu suddenly piped up. "I wouldn't be able to see him as much now would i?"

Nico was stumped. "Um. I suppose not, but if he really does like you, he would wait for you every summer to come see him. But you mustn't tell him about the gods. It's sacred information."

Zu was quiet for a while. "Wait so i am technically Will's sister and your cousin? And Will is your cousin too?"

Will scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Nico is my cousin. Far along the family line though."

Zu kicked Nico's shin. "He's your cousin? So you like your cous-i mean, isn't it against your 1940s thing?"

Nico glared at her. "Gods don't have dna, so no, we aren't exactly related."

Nico turned away and looked out for Candice's home.

"Now can we walk in quiet? This son of hades wants some peace."  
_

Kyria was last, and they finished just as Apollo decided to call it a day.

"Well there goes the sun. We should get back to camp. But I better eat something first."

Nico reached into the shadow to the Underworld and felt around. He felt some skin.

"Who's that?" Nico yelled into the shadows.

"Thanatos' fucking face, di Angelo!" Came the reply. Nico stop feeling around and flicked his fingers. "Can you pass me some candy?"

Thanatos grumbled but pressed it into his palm anyway. "By the way, good luck with getting that b-"

"BYE THANATOS!" Nico hastily screamed and cut off the shadow connection.

He popped the candies into his mouth and cringed at the sourness. What was Thanatos thinking when he got them? He shook his head and ruffled his hair and turned back to his friends who had been listening.

"Who was he talking about, Nicki?" Nico huffed.

"Shut up with the Nicki thing already!" He grunted.

"How about Sunshine?" Will prodded. Nico turned red.

"Shut up Will, or your means of transport are gone." He glared at Will, willing himself not to get too deep into his blue sparkling eyes.

"Thanatos has these...moods." Nico lied and hoped Thanatos wouldn't bash him up for it. He swiftly steered the conversation away from the topic.

"I'm gonna ask Hazel to go back on her own, unless she wants to stay a while with Frank." He said and tossed a drachma into the rainbow he had made with a fountain of water.

Hazel appeared, and she calmly heard Nico out as he explained the situation. She wanted to stay there a little longer before returning. Fine with Nico.

He swiped away the connection. Then, without offering any sort of preparation or talk beforehand, he grabbed all their hands and they dove into the shadows.

They materialised right in front of the Hades cabin and Will caught Nico before he fell.

A crowd of campers gathered around them, and while most attended to Nico, a few others wondered what to do with the demigods.

"Who are they, Nico?" Annabeth asked, but Jason was leaning over him.

"Hey you okay there buddy? Bro, don't faint on me...hey. HEY!" Jason shouted and beckoned for some people over. But Nico weakly pushed them away.

"No...my cabin. Will. Bring me to cabin thirteen and leave me there." Just as he was about to pass out of consciousness, Nico added one last thing.

"And don't you dare stay in there."

Then Nico succumbed to the darkness and fainted.


	27. Chapter 27

Kayla bent down to pick up the fallen medical equipment from her full arms. Will ran forward to ask her.

“Is it normal for Nico to be like that? To faint and then not wake up?” Will asked.

Kayla sighed, and brushed behind her ear a glue-tinged strand of hair. “It’s only been a few minutes for Apollo’s sake.”

Will finally noticed his hard breathing. “Oh? Damn. I’ve asked everyone at camp already.” Will bent down into a squatting position, then rolled back onto his heels into a sit.

He looked out to the distance, and forgot all about Kayla until she, too, sat down beside him and wiped away the sweat off his face.

“I recognise that look. Which prestering girl came up to you now?” Kayla asked, resting her elbow on her knee.

Will looked away. “What?” He snorted. “No girls come to pester me.”

He sighed. “I think I like Nico.”

Kayla looked at Will from under the curtain of hair covering her face. “Oh? Does he like you back?”

She scuttled over to his side and nudged Will. “Does he?”

Will shifted a little away from Kayla. “No! I don’t think so. Not like that. I mean…” Will buried his head in his hands.

“I think at some point he might have…” Will began to get up. “I don’t know.”

Will thought about the times he had spent with Nico. The times he had so unwittingly caught Nico’s fierce blush that Will refused to acknowledge. The times Will teased Nico about his smile, and how he liked it. And even how, probably because of that, Nico began to smile more too. He even realised that Nico always caught his eyes in class and held his stare.

Had Nico really liked him? Of course, now that Will finally admitted that he did like Nico, he wished Nico once liked him too, and even better, if he did so now.

But then Will thought about all the times Will pushed away and hid his feelings for Nico from him. How gradually, Nico’s smiles became dimmer and dimmer, how Will noticed that Nico blushed less. How Nico almost always turned away when Will looked towards him.

Will wet his lips and peeked at Kayla to see her expression. It was unreadable. Typical Kayla. “But we kind of missed our chance.”

Will walked a bit further and sat down again, now in a drier and harder ground. Kayla followed. Will drew his legs in and wrapped his arms around them.

“And now, I don’t even know how i should progress with this relationship. Friendship...or more?” Will’s voice had this light lilt when he said that, like he wished for it.

Then Will pressed his face into the gap between his chest and forearms. “I didn’t even say anything, you know. I didn’t even go like ‘hey, i like you’ or something along those lines. I…” Will stopped.

Kayla peered over Will’s shoulder. “Do you want to though?”

Will craned his neck to lift his head. He glanced at Kayla, then away. “Well yeah.” He mumbled.

Kayla tucked the falling strands of hair behind her ears again, this time more dramatically. “Sorry?”

Will glared at her. “Yes i do want to speak up about it.” He said louder. Kayla looked satisfied.

“Are you going to talk my ear off about this in the upcoming weeks?” Will shrugged.

“I guess.” Kayla smirked.

“That’s right. And I don’t want that either.” She jumped to her feet and hauled Will up along with her. Will yelped softly. But Kayla was already talking.

“I thought so too.” Kayla straightened the collar of his shirt and smoothed out the creases in his shirt. She then dusted the invisible specks of dirt off his clothes and gave him a little shove.

Will pouted. “You’re my sister! You’re supposed to help me!” He said. Kayla crossed her arms.

“Yes i will. But…” She paused to swat away a fly.

“Figure it out. And tell him. Alright?”

Will was speechless and he eyed Kayla as she walked back to the cabin. He wanted to call after her, but he stopped.

He turned his head to cabin thirteen. Maybe there was where he should start.  
_

Nico awoke in his cabin, and he shot up immediately. Then he slowed down and rubbed his temples. Oh gods another headache was coming on. He groaned. This will literally be the death of him.

He sat up slowly and shook his head. He scrunched up his nose and tousled his hair. He was still wearing the same clothes thank the gods. So they had kept their word and left him alone.

Nico shrugged and popped his stiff joints. He looked out the window. It was day, probably just an hour or two after the sun rose. He rubbed his eyes and walked out of his cabin.

Just as he moved his leg out, however, it hit a hard object. He shook his leg and looked down. 

Will? What was he doing there? Knowing his pattern, Nico had likely been out for the past nine-ish hours. Had Will been there the entire time? Just the thought of it sent bubbles in his stomach.

Nope. Cleanse the feelings Nico. Stop it. He flicked his toes at Will's back but he didn't respond. With a laboured sigh, he bent down and gingerly shook the sleeping boy awake.

"Solace. Get up. You're at my doorstep." Nico said and shook him harder. Will's eyes cracked open and he stifled a yawn. 

"Nico? How are you?" Despite his muffled voice, Nico heard the question.

"I'm fine. You didn't have to stay here you know. You could have come in to my cabin and sat there or just have gone to your own cabin."

"You said I couldn't go in." Will retorted sleepily.

"That was for the other campers." Will's shut his eyes and for a second, Nico thought he had gone back to sleep.

"So I'm an exception?" Will said after a while and yawned again.

"You could say so." Nico let. Then he tapped his shoulder. "You look really tired. How long have you not slept?"

Will swatted away the question. " 'm tired. Gimme sleep."

Nico forced Will's eyelids open. "Answer me."

"Two days. Pathetic I know." Will replied and shut his eyes again. Nico pursed his lips. He couldn't have Will lying on his doorstep. It would be really uncomfortable to sleep like that.

Will fidgeted in his sleep. Nico sighed. It would be morally wrong to leave him here, and he couldn't just stay here watching Will sleep. He needed a solution quick. He still had to go to the cabins of the seven to tell them he was there, and IM those in camp jupiter.

He looked at his arms doubtfully. He wasn't sure he could carry the weight in front of him. He blew out his breath through his mouth and stepped forward.

He squatted in front of his doorstep, back to Will, and instructed him to put his hands around his neck.

"C'mon. Just do it." Will looked a little delirious while still groggy.

"Only if you call me sunshine." Nico sighed, exasperated.

"Okay. Fine. Sunshine." But as he said so, his mouth broke into a smile.

Will wrapped his arms around his neck and Nico fumbled about for Will's legs and held them tight as he stood up. Maybe he was more fit than he thought. It was relatively easy to carry Will.

“Hey...I’ve got something to tell you…” Will mumbled. Nico shook his head and lightly hit his head. 

“You need sleep. Whatever you want to tell me can wait.”

Slowly, Nico ordered his feet to take large strides at a time to bring them to the infirmary. With his legs, he kicked the door as a form of knocking. The door flew open and Kayla was there.

"Will? Bring him in." Kayla said briskly and prepared the bed at the corner for him. Nico let the boy slide off his back and onto the mattress.

"Thanks anyway." Kayla said and dusted off her hands. "For bringing him here."

"It's no big deal." Nico turned to leave.

"And Nico, i don't know if you realised but yesterday, after you were brought to your cabin, everyone left to the Aphrodite cabin to get their hair dyed."

"Oh?" Nico felt the mop of hair on his head. He had almost forgotten about its striking colour. "Ok."

Kayla sent him to the door. "And also, Will was telling me about you. Some stuff, you know."

The tip of Nico's ears turned a faint pink. He stopped walking "Huh?"

"Yah. Talking really passionate about it too." Nico twirled a silver strand of hair idly.

"Kayla i don't get what you're trying to say." He did actually, but he didn't want to assume.

"He likes you idiot." Nico's nose also tinged pink.

"He does?" Kayla rolled her eyes.

"Yes, and i get why he does. Just...if you're not interested in him tell him nicely." Nico stopped playing with his hair.

"He really does like me?" 

"Yes now shut up or I'm kicking you out." 

"I was going out anyway. You stopped me." Nico said defensively.

"Just shut up." Kayla jerked the door in an attempt to scare him.

"Okay okay! Gods! Some great mood swings there...chill dude." Nico shook his head and ambled down the steps.

He heard the door shut behind him, and Nico totally missed the excited screaming of Zu and Kayla as soon as he exited. Holy hera. Will liked him back? 

Nico ran to the Aphrodite cabin and ignored everything with regard to manners. He flung open the door, breathless and gasping for air. 

"Piper!" Nico yelled and everyone froze. Nico didn't wait for Piper to speak up and found her anyway. He dragged her out of the cabin. 

"Piper. I need your help. I like someone and he likes me and i don't know what to do." Nico said urgently. Piper was disgruntled at first but then she smiled. 

"He? You like a boy? Is it Will?" Nico was about to nod. 

"Wait how did you know?" Piper shrugged. 

"He could have been spending his entire night outside your cabin. He could be firing questions to everyone with regard to your usual mental state of health. He could be being out of sorts while you were out. I don't know how i guessed that either."

Nico frowned. "No need to be sarcastic. Just tell me, how should i get rid of the feelings?"

Piper looked like she wanted to slap him and twist him into a knot. "What the fuck do you mean di Angelo?"

"What? I can't like a boy! Maria and Bianca would kill me!" He wailed. 

"They're dead."

"And offered to be reborn." Nico pointed out. 

"Whatever. Point is, this is about your happiness."

"I'm not happy half the time anyway."

Piper glared at him and Nico glared back, but Nico was in such a jittery state he just let Piper win this one. 

"Ok sorry man! How should i confess then, if that makes you so happy?" Piper's red face returned to its peachy shade.

"Kiss him."

"What!?"

"Yeah its the best way to do it. No explanation, no need for whatever other stuff. You seem like the kind who would be lazy to launch into a full-on speech about life and feelings so…"

"That's only for the seven."

"So Will's an exception?" Piper teased. "But anyway, that's what i would do. But you can have your own style."

"Ok."

"Good luck." Piper egged him on. "And i won't tell anyone if you want."

"Please don't."

"Alright. And don't try to hard."

"Any other thing?"

"Don't change your personality after you get together with him."

"I don't even know if he wants to."

"Just if he does okay? It's not worth it to change for anyone."

"Okay." Nico huffed. "Thanks and uh, bye."

"Bye." Piper returned to her cabin and winked at him. Perhaps she knew something he didn't.  
_

Kayla shook Will awake from his slumber. Will looked around, still under sleep's thumb.

"What do you want Kayla? I want sleep." He mumbled and fell back under the covers. But Kayla was having none of that. 

She threw the covers off. "Nico wants you to meet him at the lake at dinner."

"How should i skip dinner then?" Will asked, his eyes still shut.

"William Solace! Open those eyes do you fucking hear me!?" Kayla yelled. Will's ears rang and he used both hands to pry open his eyes wide.

"How bout this?" He said grumpily.

"Good." She said. "You are skipping dinner i don't care how."

Will frowned. "Who is the bastard who wants to meet me at dinner again?"

"Nico di Angelo."

"Oh. Sorry i didn't mean bastard. Um. I meant Angel. Sunshine. Sun Angel. Yep. I would never call him a bastard. He's far from a bastard." Will rambled to defend himself.

Kayla folded her arms. "I didn't even ask." She licked her dry lips. "Anyway it's one hour to dinner. I suggest you be there early, like maybe fifteen minutes before."

"Fifteen? No way! I'm going now. See ya!" Will pulled a coat off the hanger and slipped it on. It was the one Nico had given him. He took in the smell of it. It smelled just like Nico. He sniffed it again.

He raced over to the lake and sat down and waited for his Sun Angel, the sunshine, to arrive.  
_

Will heard soft footsteps behind him and he checked his watch. It was exactly dinner time. He found himself looking at Nico. Unlike Will, Nico did not even put on a coat or anything like it. He was wearing the same thing he remembered vaguely seeing Nico wear in the morning.

Will was still very confused. He was lost in his thoughts. He was taking in the breathtaking sight in front of him. He could hear his heart thumping. Every movement that Nico made slowed. Will observed Nico as he brought a hand up to sweep a stray strand of hair away behind his ear, and suddenly, Will wanted to be the one to help him do it.

Will didn’t move even when Nico took long strides in his direction. His walk was so...mesmerising. Will’s fingers twitched involuntarily. The world around him silenced, and the only sound came from his intense breathing. It seemed to be amplified further as all sound blocked out.

Nico was walking and Will was breathing hard. Very hard. 

“William Solace.” He said his name loud and clear. Will suddenly felt trapped in his own body. Nico’s fingers brushed against his own trembling ones.

All of a sudden, the feelings he had suppressed so long returned with a vengeance. He was intoxicated by the littlest movements Nico made, and his whole world was washed by a clean lens.

A clean lens that told him just how important Nico was to him. How much he liked Nico. How his affection for him burned with a passion hotter than the sun that had begun to sink.

Nico sat down beside him, and pulled a knee to his chest. He took out a sandwich and offered Will one, one which he agreed and shyly ate.

Suddenly, he became so self conscious of whatever he was doing. Should he say something, or should he sit back and try to enjoy the tranquility of the night?

But Will suddenly had an idea. He pointed to the brightest star above him, the one at the tip of Zoë's arrow.

"Have you ever wished on stars?"  
_

"Have you ever wished on stars?" Nico looked to Will, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering faster and harder, chewing away at the walls of his intestines. He had been thinking, what if Will broke his heart like Percy had in a way? 

Nico was scared to open up his heart. If he didn't, there wasn't a chance Will would break it. But then there left no chance he would not…

Now, Nico looked to the brightly lit night sky and answered honestly, "I've never tried."

Will, with those easy blue eyes, turned to stare at Nico. "It's time you did then."

Will, with his legs outstretched, put his hands behind him on the ground and let his shoulders slouch in. 

He tilted his head to the left slightly, and in a soft husky voice, he said, "Pick out your favourite one and close your eyes. Wish for something you want, or need, or anything really."

So Nico did. He closed his eyes, and in the black whirlpool of nothingness that he was in, he wished for courage. When he opened his eyes, he saw Will with his eyes shut too, and Nico felt the urge to lean in and kiss him, just like Piper had said. 

No. Not now. Let everything go as planned. You got this di Angelo. He watched patiently as Will slowly opened his eyes and stared wistfully at the sky. 

"What did you wish for?" He asked, and when Nico replied, he said, "Courage? For what?"

"For this." Nico reached into his pocket and handed him a handful of red candies cupped in his palms. He hoped Will remembered the tradition at TJ.

Will looked at it, dumbfounded, stunned, and shocked. "You--i, uh--i…"

But Nico wasn't done. "You talk too much. And I wished for courage, not just for that, but also, for this."

And Nico leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed Will, all of his beauty and compassion, his rare kind of blue eyes and the gorgeous sandy hair. He kissed Will with courage he never knew he had.

And Will was kissing him back. Nico felt like he was Elysium. He felt his ears burn.

Hades...where had Will learnt to kiss like that? Nico thought and gradually pulled away.

When he drew back, his eyes caught Will's and he watched with bated breath for Will's shriek of terror. But it never came.

"How long had you been waiting for that?" Nico teased and put the strand of hair behind Will's cherry red ears.

"Forever." Will breathed and their foreheads touched. Will leaned over him and kissed him again, but this time, it wasn't as chaste or pure or innocent as the previous.

By the time Nico withdrew, his lips were a bright red as were his cheeks, ears and nose. His hands found Will's among the grass and they knowingly intertwined, like they were made for each other.

Will squeezed his hands and Nico blushed an even deeper shade of red, but nothing prepared him for the next sentence.

"Guess we're lucky tonight. Both our wishes came through."


	28. Chapter 28

Nico, the small grin on his face, stood up to return to his cabin, but Will pulled him down.

"Stay a little longer." Nico chuckled and sat back down a little longer.

"Never thought you'd be the type to flaunt your good looks to get people to do what you want." But Nico didn't so much as attempt to argue. It was nice to sit down, on the grass, look at the stars…

This was a night they'd never get back, and they knew it. The night would not be cut short unless absolutely needed to.

Nico reached into the shadows to take out a bottle of wine.

"Wanna drink?" Will took one of the glasses in Nico's hand and poured himself a glass.

"Where'd you get it?" Nico delayed the answer.

"A winery." Nico hesitated. "In Italy." Nico said and waited for the scolding that was sure to follow.

"Oh. I could get used to that." Nico raised his eyebrows.

"I'm surprised that you're not flying into some rage." Nico poured himself a glass and he swished it a little. He watched the liquid as it moved around the glass.

"I don't really understand why people do some stuff before they drink the wine so ignore me while i gulp it down." Will stared at him, his face unreadable.

"Okay then. So I have a boyfriend who doesn't understand the need to toast before drinking wine. Sure." Will downed the glass and swallowed it hard, then gave Nico a forced grin.

"Don't drink so much if you can't." Nico advised and poured himself another full glass. Once again, he let the wine slide down his throat and fill his stomach.

"Then why are you drinking so much?" Will said. 

"Cos i can." Nico laughed lightly and punched Will's shoulder. Will swished the empty glass in his hand.

"More?" Will pleaded. Nico raised the bottle of wine in front of him and put it up directly in front of the moonlight.

"Okay there's still some anyway." Nico gingerly took the glass from Will's fingers and poured a little. "Oh gods i probably have to carry this drunkard back later."

Will took a sip from the glass and he sighed. He blinked hard and looked to Nico who was still drinking the wine like it was water.

Nico forced the wine down but didn't turn to face Will.

“You know, I hate you Will. I hate it. But i hate myself more. I hate it that i love the way you flip your hair, that i love the way you stand under that streetlamp, that i love the way you smile lights up my heart. I hate you Will. I hate you for making me feel this way. Most of all, i hate the way i don’t hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all. But...i-i” Nico stopped here, seemingly unsure of whether to continue.

Will reached forward and tugged lightly at Nico’s sleeves. Nico fell sideways, but in the perfect way where his head automatically found his shoulder blade. Will rested his head on top of Nico’s and he inhaled the deadly intoxicating smell of Nico’s soft hair.

"But i like you. And i don't even know why exactly." Nico finished. He took another long gulp of the wine.

"I like Nico." Will said deliriously. "Nico likes me too." Will clinked the glasses together and Nico sat back up. 

"Oh shit you're drunk." Will's normally tanned face was flushed and there was this silly grin on his face.

"He likes me." Will picked a clover from the ground and plucked off a leaf. "He likes me not. He likes me. He likes me not…" 

Nico sighed and shook his head, pouring another glass for Will and himself all the same. His right hand found the ground behind him and he crossed his legs. 

He chugged the entire glass and faced Will. "Do you really like me?"

Will giggled, and Nico swore that was the cutest sound ever to reach his ears. 

"No…" Will swished the glass again in his stupor. "I like Nico. Does Nico like me?" Will's carefree face darkened. 

"Does he like me? I want him to like me. I like him. I want more." Will swallowed an invisible lump in his throat and beamed again. "More. More!"

Nico reached over to clamp his mouth shut. If the campers found them, they were so dead. 

"More what?" Nico asked.

"More...indigo liquid. More! Sunshine...Nico…" Will weakly pushed Nico aside and reached for the bottle but Nico caught his hand.

"No more wine, Solace. You're drunk." Nico's firm grip tightened when Will struggled.

"Nico...Nico…" Nico's grip loosened. "Yeah?" Will put his two index fingertips together repeatedly.

"He's a sun angel. My sunshine…" Will dramatically put his palm to his heart and lay on Nico's lap. In a normal sober occasion, Nico would have pushed Will away but Will was such an adorable drunkard.

"You know...Nico kissed me today." Will said dreamily, then giggled to himself. Nico reddened. Was that all Will remembered? Damn, this dork.

"Yeah? He did?" Will nodded wistfully. 

"Yeah...he was so nice to me...i love him." Will laughed loudly and Nico put his palm to his lips again. But Nico too was blushing. He was blushing hard.

"You smell like Nico. He smells nice." Will continued drunkenly. Will daintily pried Nico's fingers off and counted them.

"You have ten fingers. That's goood…" Will slurred and giggled incoherently.

"Do you know where Nico is? I wanna hug him goodnight…" Nico brushed the hair out of Will's eyes and took the bottle of wine.

"Yeah. I'm Nico dummy." Nico scoffed and finished the bottle. He tossed it into the shadows for safekeeping. 

"Really?" Will reached out to touch Nico's face and hair. "Oh right… You are Nico!"

Nico removed Will's hands from his face but Will slapped his hands. 

"No!" Will whined. "I want Nico's face…" Will, while giggling, waves his hands about and dropped them to his heart again. 

"And his eyes, and his heart, and his lips…" Will laughed softly to himself. "He's such a sweet kisser. So sweet and innocent…"

Nico blushed in spite of himself and playfully slapped Will's shoulder. "You dirty boy. What dirty things you thinking about now huh?" Nico knocked his head.

"Don't hit meee…" Will complained. "I wanna be with Nico my wholee life...then i can have childrenn...yay!"

Nico snorted. "We are guys Will. Two guys can't have children."

Will frowned and scowled. "No...i can ask Kayla to be the surrogate. Ehehehe...she agreeeed…"

Nico looked at him, gobsmacked. "You did what? Oh gods Kayla!" 

Will wasn't listening (obviously). "I love Nico. Nico...where aarre youuu? Ready or not here i comeee!"

Will giggled some more. "I am Nico you idiot." Nico flicked his nose.

Will smiled and poked his own cheek. "Kiss me here...and here…" He poked his right cheek. "And here…" He poked his cherry red lips.

"Okay I'm bringing you back to your cabin." Will pouted and crossed his arms.

"No!" Then he scrunched up his nose. "Only if you kiss me here here and here."

Nico rolled his eyes but obliged, and his kiss on the lips lingered perhaps longer than it should have.

Nico pulled Will to his feet and slung his arm around his shoulder. The campfire had just ended and it would only be a matter of time before people noticed their absence if they hadn't already.

Nico discreetly brought Will to the back of the Apollo cabin, threw open the window, and slotted him between the wide window grills.

Zu and Kayla were there, and Nico wasn't even surprised by their presence.

"What did you do to him?" Kayla asked then tried to slap Will out of his state.

"Pretty damn obvious Kayla." Nico gestured to Will. "He got drunk. I didn't expect his alcohol tolerance to be so low. Guess i should have asked first." 

Nico scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry. What should i do?"

Zu raised her eyebrows and waved him away. "No need Nicki--"

"Shut it Zu. You know i hate that name." Will raised his hands and wiggled them.

"He's not Nickiii…" Will started up again and giggled. "He is my sun angelll…"

"Sun angel huh?" Zu teased and even Kayla snorted.

"Yep he's drunk, and he's got it real bad." She looked at Nico with a sigh and he shrugged. 

"I told you already. I didn't know he was alcohol intolerant. Besides, i offered to help."

Kayla rolled her eyes. "There's nothing you can do except watch him wake up tomorrow with a headache that will go on for days. Only a god can save him from this."

Zu folded her arms. "I may not be so familiar with this, but i don't think the gods would do this kind of thing for their children. Especially for such small cases." 

Kayla nodded. "Highly doubt so."

Nico was indignant. "Are you sure a god can do this? Any god? Or maybe some miracle worker?"

Kayla nodded again, but it was questionable. "I suppose so. No one has ever done it and the gods probably wouldn't attend to your request. Besides, this is a freaking natural occurence in stupid teenagers who think drinking is a good idea."

Here, Nico smirked. "No. Not my dad. But my dad did give me someone i could use."

Kayla paled. "No not him."

Zu tilted her head. "Who?" But Nico wasn't listening. He ducked under the window and put his face just inches from the ground.

"Hey. Jules. It would be nice of you to come up and help us you know. Like if you know any underworldly healing stuff."

The ground shook and split open. Jules' head rolled out first from the creek, then his arms slowly climbed up and attached the head to the body.

"Sir. You called." Nico nodded.

"You know how to get someone out of having to deal with after effects of being drunk?"

Zu peered out of the window and stifled a scream of terror. Well, Nico wouldn't blame Zu. Jules had a reputation for being creepy.

Jules did not answer but just scaled the wall of the cabin and put a decayed hand on Will's forehead, one that Will took as a stick and flicked away.

"Hades Nico. What did you do to him?" Jules looked in disgust. "Is this the one Thanatos and Alecto were raving about?"

"He's drunk and yes, this is the one the two brainless bimbos were talking about."

Jules chuckled humourlessly at the choice of insult and began to work on the boy. Zu looked about as pale as Nico and Kayla was just stopping herself from vomiting.

Job done, Nico gave Jules a small tip for his help and sealed lips and Jules returned to his post.

Once more, the earth opened for Jules to fall into. 

Kayla waited a while to be able to speak coherently again.

"Nico di Angelo! What did you summon him for?" Kayla huffed.

Zu sat down in the seat. "That must be the grossest thing I've ever seen." She said in a small voice.

Glaring at Kayla, Nico replied. "You were the one to give me the idea. Blame yourself if anyone."

Not backing down, Kayla continued. "Ungrateful brat. I should never have treated you in the first place."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Chill. I was just stating facts, and besides, your dear little brother is now saved."

Kayla and Zu simultaneously looked to Will, who was fast asleep.

Kayla jerked her head at Will. "Well then what did you do during the evening."

Nico pinked. "Um. We talked."

Raising her eyebrows, Zu scoffed. "Just that? You didn't confess?"

"Um well…"

They both pounced. "Well…?"

"Well...i…"

Kayla clenched her fists. "Oh just say it already bitch."

"...yes?"

Zu and Kayla squealed and jumped around in a circle. It was extremely unsettling for Nico to watch.

"Was it romantic? Or was it sweet? Or just…" Zu faked a stab to the heart. 

Nico remained silent and replayed the night in his head. It was so beautiful. "I don't know…"

Nico dove into the shadow blow him and silently laughed at the exasperated sighs of the two fangirls he had left behind. 

With his boyfriend that is.  
_

Will awoke from his sleep. It was one of the most restful sleeps he had ever had in ages.

He rubbed his eyes and the night's events slowly came back to him.

Nico. Stars. Confess. Kiss. Wine. Fucking cold hand on forehead.

He hit his head and scrambled out of his sheets. He had to go see Nico. He had to tell him he was sorry that he hadn't been able to spend the night properly. Then he looked out. It was still night. He hadn't slept for long, so it seemed.

Will went to the cabinet of pills in the toilet to get some medication to lessen the headaches he anticipated. He found the bottle and opened it, but it was empty.

"Kayla! Who other than me got drunk this time? Why haven't you refilled the pills while I was gone?"

Kayla unhurriedly stood at the door of the ajar toilet door.

"Because you don't need it." Kayla said simply as though that explained everything. 

"Why is that?" Then Will threw himself at Kayla. "Oh my gods Kayla! I got drunk! And Nico had just confessed to me. Like why am i such an idiot? I shouldn't have drunk so much!" 

Kayla nodded. "Sometimes i ask myself too. Why do I have such a simple person for an older brother? Anyway, you said Nico confessed to you?"

"Um yeah." Will realised his slip up. Knowing Nico, he probably wanted to keep it under wraps. He groaned.

"Pretend i never said that." He quickly tried to get away but Zu blocked his other exit.

"You too Zu?" He wailed. Zu shrugged. 

"I am curious. All Nico said was that he confessed and then he just 'poof!' and disappeared." Zu made an exploding gesture with her hands.

Will ran his fingers through his hair. "He just...i don't know. It happened all too fast. Before I knew it, he was just…'poof!' and like...dammit i don't know how to explain it."

Austin poked his head from behind the partition. "You don't know or don't wanna tell?" 

Will glared at Austin. Another one? Nico was going to kill him. "Both. I don't know and don't wanna tell. And isn't it time to go to bed? The patrol harpies will be here to make sure it's lights out for everyone!"

They all instantaneously put their hands up in defeat. The probably knew an angry Will was not a good Will to deal with. One by one, they left the toilet (funny how they were still there). Will was the last to leave, but then Kayla added.

"And Nico may be slightly drained because he summoned that weird old freak to help you avoid those hangover effects. You're lucky to have someone like you that much." Will nodded, taking in all the information.

Zu put a finger up to warn him. "Don't you dare take advantage of him." 

Will gulped. Why were girls so switch-y with their tones? One moment they could be fearing their life and the next they'd be holding you at gunpoint. He shuddered. Perhaps that was why he held no interest for girls.

He spotted the window by his bed and scrambled over to it. This would be a good place to get out of the cabin without being seen or questioned.

Then Will heard a giggle. Kayla again.

"You even have the same habit leaving cabins through windows, so it seems." She commented and nodded approvingly. "Go on. I won't stop you." She flicked her wrist at the grills. 

Will ignored her and carried on, bringing one foot through the grills then wriggling the other through too.

He fell out of the cabin hands first but thank the gods the height from which he fell was not high.

He easily picked himself up and sped off in the direction of cabin thirteen.  
_

Nico lay in bed, awake. He was so so tired, but he couldn't sleep. It had to be about an hour or so after he sent Will to his cabin. 

He turned over to his left and shut his eyes. Then he opened them again. Gods it was hot.

It was the first time he was sweating in a thousand years. He got up from his bed and shuffled to the window to open it.

He flung open the windows so hard he didn't even realise there was a person there. He heard the sound of an impact against the glass and he peered outside his cabin and looked down.

Will was on the ground, rubbing his forehead.

"Will? Why are you up so quick? I just asked for Jules to wash away all the hangover effects." Nico was so confused.

"Hi Nico." Will stated plainly then touched his forehead. He winced. Nico looked to the left and right. 

"Better get you in before anyone sees. Can you reach your hands up?" Nico leaned out of the cabin to grab onto Will's hands. Will straightened his hands up and his fingers touched Will's. 

It sent shivers up and down Nico's spine. Nevertheless, he hauled the son of Apollo up.

Once safe inside his cabin, Nico gently put a finger on the cut across Will's forehead. Nico grimaced at the gory scene. It must have stung horribly for Will.

Will looked so alert despite his fall. Nico sighed and watched Will as he tried to use his Apollo abilities on himself. It was working, but Will had used up enough of his abilities to drink all that wine without getting drunk. 

Nico awkwardly took Will's hand. "Do you trust me?"

Will looked at his hand in Nico's and his lips broke into a small smile.

"Of course Sunshine." Nico rolled his eyes at the name but didn't stop Will. Instead, Nico shut his own eyes and felt his shadow energy rushing through his veins. He had used this trick multiple times before in battle. He just used the darkness and shadows in him to heal small injuries.

It was efficient for quick healing for minor cuts and such, but not for those major surgical types.

By the time Nico opened his eyes, the cut on Will's forehead had faded. Nico smiled and watched Will touched the skin on his forehead.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Will asked, astonished. "I thought only children of Apollo had this gift."

Nico shrugged and put the soles of his feet together on the bed. He touched his toes and stroked the ankles.

"It only works for minor injuries." Nico said. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Will sighed and made himself slightly more comfortable on the bed. "I dunno. I just woke up and Kayla told me about what you did."

Nico blushed. Why Kayla? Why? Just why? "Still, you should have been resting. You got really drunk."

Nico frowned. "And why didn't you stop drinking when you knew you couldn't hold so much alcohol?"

Will pondered over this. "I didn't want to spoil the night. And i came over to thank you."

Nico hid his blush behind his silver and purple bangs. "Nessun problema."

Will cocked his head to the side, then laughed lightly. "I have no idea what you just said but ok."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I said 'no problem'." He squirmed a little. "Since you're here, how about we watch a movie or something?"

Will didn't answer, and Nico worried he had said something wrong. "You don't have to, i mean. I'm perfectly fine if you return to your cabin."

Will shook his head. "Huh? No. I was thinking about my mom. We left so abruptly i didn't really get a chance to say a proper goodbye." Will liked sign at his hands. "I miss her so much."

Nico stiffly reached out to Will's hands and pressed his palm against his. "You know, it be like that sometimes." 

Nico tapped the bed with his fingers. "So… Still wanna watch a movie or not?"

Will pressed his lips together. "Yeah sure. Whaddaya wanna watch, Sun Angel?"

Nico took the controller and turned the screen on. "I don't know, and i prefer Sunshine."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Why? Sun Angel sounds so much sweeter."

Nico didn't turn to look at Will but still responded. "Exactly." 

His eyes still glued on the screen, he continued. "And it's easier to say. I mean, why would you want to say something that's three syllables rather than subverting with two syllables when both connotate the same damn meaning?" 

Nico pressed a button and the screen changed over to a movie page. "So...genre?"

With a laugh, Will moved to sit behind Nico and wrapped his hands over to the front of Nico's body.

"Anything. Just not Hercules."


	29. Chapter 29

Nico switched off the television. The movie had ended, but they were not quite sleepy. Funny how Nico was just forcing himself into slumber earlier.

Nico ran through the things he still had to do. He wasn't too sure if Zu had cancelled the get-together party with Roman. But he had bought the dress for her already anyway.

"Hey could you pass the dress?" Will looked to his left and pointed at a sling bag.

"This one?" Nico hurriedly shook his head. Inside that bag was the multiple drawings of Tartarus he had drawn after nightmares. And there were also some of Will. And a lot of other personal stuff.

"The one to its right." Nico jerked his head to the right of his sling bag. He nodded as Will brought it over.

"We have yet to do the flowery thing." Nico sighed. He got up to go to the bathroom. That was where he kept all his needles and thread and knives...razors...blades. He searched through some stuff and found what he was looking for.

He walked out with the items in his hands. Then, he sat down opposite Will and let the materials fall from his hands to the ground.

"Here you go. White roses. I'll alter the length, and you stitch on the flowers." Nico pressed a needle into his large palm, and Will wrapped his fingers around Nico's little fingers.

"You really like me?" Nico asked doubtfully.

"Yes, you dork. Now you do know how to do this don't you?" Will let go of Nico's hands and pointed at the dress. Nico gazed at the roses in his hands.

"Work quietly so no one can hear us." Will whispered in a softer voice.

Nico shrugged. "I'm not noisy. Say that to yourself."

Nico didn't look up from the dress in his hands. It was crucial to have his eyes trace the path the scissors went. One wrong cut and that was it.

"And thank you, Will." Nico said in a small voice.

"For what?" Will laughed and proceeded to thread the needle.

Nico put the dress down. The dress could wait. "For liking me back i suppose."

Nico sighed. "Will?"

"Yeah?" Will answered.

"I've been meaning to tell you something, for a while now, and I don't think I'll be able to say it again...so i want to say it now, while i can still pass off as a little tipsy."

Nico picked up the dress again, but then released it. "I...I like you. A lot." Nico smiled.

Will gave a tiny chuckle and continued to try to thread the needle. "Of course. Everyone does."

Nico glared at him and gripped Will's hands to stop him. "Will."

Nico let go of his hand. "I meant it."

Will pushed Nico's chin up to meet his eyes. "I know. And aren't you saying it because you're kinda drunk?"

Nico grabbed the scissors and resumed his altering of the dress. "Maybe I wouldn't say it if I were completely sober. But also, it's true."

Nico breathed in. "You know, you don't have to say it back or anything. And if you don't really like me we can just pretend I never kissed you. It's-I just wanted you to know."

Nico glanced at Will from the corner of his eye when he didn't reply. He shook his head and continued to cut the dress.

"I know." Will said at last. "And I like you too."

Will seemed to have finally thread the needle and got to the roses. "It's just...i always thought of you as a rival. But now…"

Will smiled. "I can't quite remember why."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Don't be cheesy. I still remember why and there's no reason you shouldn't."

Will punched his shoulder. "But you hold grudges." Will snickered. "Besides, that wasn't even the point."

Will put his hands in front of him to illustrate. "You see, when someone shares a bond with someone else, that is special," Will gestured again.

"It's called mutual affection." Will jabbed at the air. "And to get even more affection from that person, some subconsciously try to be humorous or corny."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "It wasn't funny."

Will stared at him. "And that, is called flirting."

Nico reddened. "You were flirting." He said, more than asked, incredulously.

"Oh godsssss…" Will lamented. "Whatever. Just continue with your stuff and forget it."

"Wh-what? No!" Nico spluttered.

Will leaned back. "What? Want some classes?" He smirked.

Nico's fingers traced the curve at his ear. "It's just...I didn't expect you to-" He waited for the right words to come to his mind.

"Anyway...can we-can you...flirt with me again?" Nico blushed as the words spilled. It somehow always came out so wrong and different as to when it was replayed in his mind thousand times over.

Will brushed away the hair from Nico's face. "Um...I'm the son of Apollo. It comes naturally. Can't come on command."

Will moved closer to Nico and rested, back against back as he stitched a rose. Nico leaned against him and let his head fall back.  
_  
It was only after Will started yawning that Nico realised it was getting late.

"Hey Will. It's coming to two in the morning. You better sleep." Will's head snapped towards the clock.

"Crap. I can't go back to my cabin." Will flicked his forehead. "What should i do?"

Nico ran to his door and peered outside the peephole. Patrol harpies were everywhere, and it was enough of a miracle that none had come in to switch off the lights.

"You can sleep here. But just this once. I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

Will hugged Nico. "Thanks for tonight."

Nico pulled away. "Di nulla." Nico paused. "It's nothing." He repeated in English. Nico went over to Hazel's bed and smoothed out the sheets.

"Hazel isn't here so you can take her bed for today." Nico then put his hands on his hips and reached forward to change the sheets.

"It has been a while since we had a guest. And neither of us really cared about this. So...wait a while as i find another set of bed sheets…" Nico trailed off and opened Hazel's drawer to look for the extra sheets he knew she kept.

"There you go." Nico pulled the fabric taut and tossed the pillowcases on. "You can sleep now."

Will hugged the pillow to his body. "Aren't you going to sleep too?"

"Okay." Nico replied, not quite answering the question.

Nico crawled onto his bed and lay there, stiff. Then he closed his eyes, only to open them moments later.

Then he forced them shut and kept them there. It was no longer than a few minutes that he drifted off into hell.  
_  
Will lifted an eyelid and turned to look at Nico. He was still. So still Will wondered if death had seized him in his sleep.

Shut up Will. Stop cursing your boyfriend. Will smacked his forehead. What was wrong with him?

Subtly, he turned his body to face Nico, and Will saw his bright silvery purple hair shimmer from the sliver of moonlight that shone through the ajar window. He was emotionless, simply put, a sleeping beauty. Will looked at him longingly.

Had it just been that night that they first kissed? The night Nico confessed? The night Will's one most desired wish came true? Will has never known Nico could be so romantic when he wanted to.

His rival, to his boyfriend. He shivered in pleasure. He had the infamous cold-hearted boy being his warm loving boyfriend. He stifled a snigger.

He placed a curious finger on his lips. Nico's lips were so soft, and sweet, like nothing he had ever had before. And now, Will was in his room, sleeping on his sister's bed, watching him sleep.

Oh right. Sleep. That was what he was here for. He breathed in.

And by the time he breathed out, he was fast asleep.  
_  
Nico awoke with a gasp. He paused, eyes open, hands both in mid air.

He collected himself. He was in real life. Bianca didn't try to kill him. Maria didn't disown him. No. He buried his head in his hands.

Should he even have initiated this relationship? He gently rocked himself on the bed and ignored the tears that fell.

He looked over to Hazel's bed. Will was still sleeping. He pressed his fingers into his elbows and shivered. He would not get any more sleep that night.

With a sigh, he pushed himself up off the bed and silently climbed up to the roof of his cabin and sat there. He watched the stars and put his hand up in front of it.

He hugged his knees tight and stared out at the sky. Faintly, he traced the constellations he found. Then his hands sagged and his face fell. Bianca and Maria had invaded his dreams, and they were a big part of his life. He took everything they said like gold and every word pretty much defined his life.

His eyes reddened at the rims.

"Nico?" Nico snapped his head to his left.

He wiped his eyes. "Shit." He mumbled and turned away from Will.

He pressed his fingers to his eyes. "You weren't supposed to see that." He muttered softly.

Will put his hands up defensively. "I don't know what that was but…" He trailed off and peered over Nico's shoulder.

"Everything alright?" Will asked gently.

"Yeah I'm okay Will. It's just-i don't know about this." He turned around to face Will squarely.

Will sat down beside him. "It will be fine." He said simply and took Nico's hands.

They both sat there in silence for a few moments.

Nico got a grip on himself. "Why are you up here? Can't sleep?" He asked.

Will paused. "No. I woke up and saw you missing from your bed. My best bet was you were up here and...i was right." Will explained.

"You know, thing is...Cupid was right. He was so fucking right. He said love was where it was least expected, and true it was."

In a smaller and more afraid voice, Nico continued. "I found love where it wasn't supposed to be."

Nico sniffed loudly and hit Will's shoulder. "You know, when i saw you, i was afraid to meet you. And when i hated you, i was scared i would love you. But now that i...love you, my head just keeps preparing myself for the time i would lose you."

Nico laughed to himself. But yet not really. "I'm so messed up aren't i?"

Will didn't say a word, but instead, he put his arm around Nico and hugged him tight, tightening further when Nico tried to wriggle free.

Then Nico stopped fidgeting. They stayed there for the rest of the night.

"Hey it's morning already. Shall we get down?" Will probed.

"What? It's morning already?" Nico wrestled himself out of Will's embrace.

"What are you doing?" Will asked, bewildered.

Harshly, perhaps a little too much, Nico replied. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Nico expertly slid down the roof of his cabin and slotted himself perfectly down the way he had come up.

"I'm gonna go now." He put his boots on. "And we can pretend…" Nico fit a jacket around his shoulders. "None of this ever happened." He finished.

Nico pushed the door open to get out. "Nico wait!"

Nico halted midstep. Slowly, he turned around.

Will crossed his arms. "Why do you want to pretend this never happened. Again. First the confession and now this sleepover?"

Nico uncomfortably scratched the inside of his wrists. "Um...because it was awkward?"

Nico began scratching harder. "And if the others find out…"

"Nico."

His skin began to bleed. "Oh gods what if everyone knows we are here! I won't be able to face anyone!"

Will pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nico!"

Nico froze. "Can you shut up for one second?"

Nico felt personally insulted but he held his tongue. "You trusted me enough to stay over here, but now you want me to go away and tell everyone this never happened?"

"That just makes it more obvious." Nico muttered.

"That's not the point! Do you despise the idea of us being known as a couple?"

Nico stopped scratching his wrists. They were bloody enough. "That's-"

He sighed and looked down. "Look. We really need to go for breakfast now. Can we talk later?"

Nico turned to leave, but Will didn't move yet.

"...sure." Will breathed and watched Nico run off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When do y'all want the last chapter???


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter. Hope it doesn't disappoint!

Nico knocked on the Apollo cabin's front door. There was no answer.

"Hello? Will? Anyone inside?" Nico asked tiredly.

He knocked again. "Hello?" He asked morr insistently this time.

He gritted his teeth, then unclenched them. He had absolutely no reason to be mad at Will, and Will had every right to not open the door.

But after a while, Nico carefully pushed it open anyway.

He found Will sitting listlessly at the beds. There was no one around. All the patients from the war had returned to their own cabins. Likely recovered.

"I was knocking on the door. Did you not hear or…" Nico trailed off at the end.

He tried to sit down beside Will but he shifted away. Nico's plastered smile dimmed.

"Either way, I suppose I was more or less formally invited to your cabin?" Nico attempted.

"So...what do we do now? Should i…" Nico was losing hope. So this was it. So this was how he messed up his second crush. Or whatever placement crush this one was.

Will let his breath escape in one big lump of air. "Look. I'm not mad at you."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Right."

Will sighed. "Okay maybe a little. But...we don't have to be weird or awkward around each other, or the camp. We can just be...ugh. It's so hard to explain."

Will tried to express what he meant with his hands. "You know? You understand what I mean?"

"So I can still call you sunshine?" Nico asked, and Will nodded.

Nico hesitantly took Will's hand and paraded internally when he didn't wrench it away. "...can i hug you?"

"Huh? Uh yeah-oh!" Will exclaimed when Nico wrapped his thin bony arms around his body. The air left his chest in a flash.

"You know, if i hadn't confessed to you yesterday, i probably wouldn't ever have." Nico admitted shyly.

Will drew back in shock. "Never?"

Nico tousled his hair. "Well...we were just beginning to get along and my life was really just a mess at that point of time. And...i was afraid that if you didn't like me back, I wouldn't even have a friend that I could confide in."

"Dude! What in Hades' name do you mean by that?" Will burst out. Then he collected himself. "Is it also because of our rivalry thing?"

Nico shrugged. "You mean the one you indirectly caused? Yes, partially."

They both laughed light-heartedly. Then Will clasped Nico's hands and looked deeply into his eyes.

Nico's gaze fell to his lips. They looked so bright and red. So soft.

He moved closer in.

"Will anyone come in?" Nico whispered softly.

"No they're all at breakfast and camp duties." Will whispered back equally quietly.

Will caressed Nico's cheek, earning a shudder from the smaller boy.

Their foreheads touched, and soon after their lips. Nico's eyes were wide open, but yet he was still somehow washed over by the smell of Will's hair.

Gods Will was such a good kisser, and Nico wondered if he was letting Will down.

After that, however, his mind was only filled with one word.

Christ.

Nico pressed his lips harder on Will's and felt Will's hand rest on his shoulder, then snake up his neck.

He felt Will's fingers grip his hair and pull him in further. In the spur of the moment, Nico raised his hand up to Will's jaw and drew him in.

Slowly, their hands dropped back down to their sides and found each other's somehow in the mess of the crumpled sheets.

"Wow." Will uttered. Nico brought his fingers lightly to his own lips and brushed them slightly. Then he realised his right hand was on Will's arms. He hurriedly withdrew them too.

Nico, with a dash of red running across his cheeks, awkwardly fiddled with his hands. "S-sorry. I got carried away." Nico looked to his shoulder where Will's hands had once been.

"No. It's fine." Will replied back, a little shaken. Then he pounced onto Nico and hovered above him. "That was-where'd you learn to do that?" Will asked. Then he touched his red lips in amazement.

"Why? Was it that terrible?" Nico said, blushing even harder now.

"It was...beautiful." Will corrected, awed.

Then his eyes drifted to Nico's lips again. "Can we...can you teach me how to kiss like that?" Will asked, clearly embarrassed.

But this time Nico didn't falter.

"Of course." He breathed and leaned in once more.

.........

(Three months later. Will returned to Singapore for a family party without Nico (family gathering thing). They announced their get together to the seven, and yes, Leo finally came back. Nico was constantly being sent on missions, and Hades let the two of them take their DCs from the houses and use them outdoors. Hades forbade Nico from using his shadow-travelling because he feared he'd lose his son to the shadow realm. Hazel and Frank returned back to camp.)

Will wriggled in his sleep. He whipped around, there was no one in sight. He looked down at his hands, and besides the blood that began to crust on his skin, Nico's limp body lay there, still and unmoving.

He screamed, then sat up quickly. He had been having a lot of nightmares lately, and they almost always revolved around Nico. None of them ever did become reality though, but it always, never failed to scare him.

But this time, it had been so realistic. He had blood all over his hands and they stained his clothes. He stared at his hands, and the sudden flash of lightning outside gave it a light red shimmer. Will clipped his tongue between his teeth.

He tossed off the blanket and chewed his fingernails. He took deep breaths and cradled his body.

"Holy crap." He muttered to himself over and over again.

He caught sight of his DC in the corner of his room, and with shaky hands, he pressed the call button.

"Come on...pick up." He mumbled.

The dull ringtone took on a flat voice. "Will? What are you doing awake at this hour? Go back to sleep!"

Will rubbed his bleary eyes. "Are you on a mission for Hades?" He asked.

"No. I returned from the graveyard yesterday. Why?" Nico responded.

Will put a hand to his chest, relieved that Nico was indeed alive. "Will?" Nico asked.

"You know how you're always on those stupid missions fo-"

"Important." Nico sighed.

"Those stupidly important missions for Hades and I've just been here for the past few days not knowing what's going on."

"Will. It was your decision to go there. You can always come back if you want." Nico said.

"Yes, but it's just-what if something happened to you? I can't be there to heal you." Will lay back down on his bed and combed through his hair.

"I want to be able to see you again i guess. And I know, it's willful and just my wishful thinking. I just…"

Will stopped due to lack of proper words. "Be careful."

Will heard Nico groan on the other end of the line. "I'll be careful alright?"

"When have you ever been?" Will counterracted, tearing at the roots of his hair exasperatedly.

"Did you call me just to tell me this?" Nico asked.

"Of course not! I just had a nightmare where you died and it was my fault...and...and…"

"Will darling, please. Come on! Can't you hear me now?"

"Yes i can. I...oh my gods...it feels so weird without you, okay?" Will's voice lingered on the line longer than he imagined. "I miss you. Happy now?"

Nico was silent for a moment, then broke out in raucous laughter. "Yes." He answered after a whole minute of laughing.

"Why are you laughing? I'm not kidding!" Will protested. And even though he knew Nico couldn't see it, he crossed his arms to emphasise his annoyance.

"I know you're not." Nico said. Will heard some movement on Nico's end. "It just...i suppose i expected you to say this earlier in to your stay at Singapore."

"Nico. Shut up." Will grumbled.

As if Nico didn't hear anything, he added. "I'm coming over."

Will couldn't believe his ears. "Wait what? Really? Now?"

And even though Will couldn't see Nico, he knew he was chuckling. "You sound like you really needed a hug."

Will frowned. "I do not. And isn't the journey hours? You aren't allowed to use your shadow-travelling and you know that. Besides, you'll only reach tomorrow late morning."

"Don't worry bout that." Nico said plainly. "I just...really want to see you too...in the flesh, not just an image. Is that...ok?"

Will was literally wordless. "Sure. I'd love that." Will forced out.

"See you later then." But Nico didn't hang up. Not yet. "And Will?"

"Hm?" Will asked back.

"Thanks for calling. I appreciate it."

Nico hung up and immediately ran out of his cabin and out of the camp as a whole. No one dared to stop him, and no one did. It was afternoon at Long Island (sorry i actually have no idea), and people were roaming about. There were new campers, even more so than usual, and camp was bustling. Leo had finally returned, with Calypso, and Nico just gave her a curt nod when she touched down.

Now, Nico just ran toward his bike. That's right. Will had finally gotten to teaching Nico how to ride, and he had progressed from the bicycle to the motorcycle. It was surely a more efficient mode of transport than a bicycle.

He rode on the bike, for exactly how long he wasn't sure. All he knew was that halfway, the bike ran out of gas and he had to go fill up the tank.

At the fuel station, he rested a while and thought about it.

"What am i doing here?" Nico asked himself, frustrated. "What if he changed his mind? What if he's too busy? Tomorrow is the party anyway. And everyone will be there. Naomi, his extended family, and even Kayla and Austin were specially invited as his siblings."

When he finished filling up the tank, he threw his hands up into the air and groaned. "Gods…" He mumbled to himself softly, aware that no one else was around other than the workers there (who were looking at him pretty suspiciously but he paid in the end anyway so who cares). He threw his hands up in the air.

"If Will has changed his mind, so be it." He told himself at last.

Then he hit the road again. After a long journey of around another six hours, Nico finally reached familiar surroundings. He removed his helmet and his long black hair poofed up softly.

His dyed hair had grown way too long and Nico had decided to just cut it off, much to Will's excitement and Zu's disappointment. Nico ran his fingers through his hair, then walked up the steps to Will's front door.

"Well, no turning back now." Nico muttered and rang the doorbell. It was like Will had been standing behind the door the whole time for it flung open no longer than one second later.

"You are ridiculous!" Will exclaimed. Nico just looked back blankly at him, then wrapped his arms around Will's torso.

"Well...it was worth it." He mumbled and smiled into Will's jacket. "Do you still want me to be here?"

Will pulled back slightly. "Why? Regretting already?"

Nico pulled in closer. "No. Not really." Nico's arms went to Will's jacket and he pulled him in for a kiss.

Then Nico snuck a peek behind him, and when he saw no one there, Nico pushed open the door. He pinned Will against the wall and Will, in return, snaked his arms around Nico's torso up his back.

"I missed you too." Nico breathed and drew Will in for another kiss.

"Oh hi Nico. Wasn't expecting you here." Nico stopped abruptly and turned around. "Don't bother about me i was just getting a drink."

"Hi Kayla." Nico promptly replied and turned yet again to a few young faces.

"Who's that?" They murmured among themselves.

Kayla just waved her hand and they dove back into the room. "Will invited his boyfriend over."

Rather embarrassed, Nico unpinned Will and gently tugged his collar and led him back outside.

"I'm so so so sorry about that." Will apologised later, and turned to glare at the children's faces that were eyeing them from windows.

"That's a really big family. Must be cool huh?" Nico said wistfully instead.

"Can be. Anyway...wanna get out of here?" Before Nico even noticed it, Will got up and extended his hand out to help Nico out.

"Catch up on things…" Nico stood up.

"In your room?" Nico's heart beat quickened, and the heat from his neck moved up to his cheeks and ears.

"Yeah."


End file.
